Blind Shadows
by Katarina Wolffe
Summary: Zulaan is starting a new life in Konoha training to a Shinobi. There, she casts aside her old self and meets Kiba. Life is amazing. But her bliss can't last when a strange incident occurs... Akatsuki show up later in story. Kiba x OC.
1. Alone

** Greetings, readers! Katarina Wolffe here, everybody's favorite author. Or not. But anyways, this is my first Naruto fan fiction solo, though I've collaborated to work on one of the most awesome stories in existence - Being Ninja (Or Not), by the Sisterhood of Traveling Kunai. But this is my first time all alone. OK, time to end the blabber. As they all say - GO EASY ON ME! But do review. Helpful criticism is amazing, but flames and flamers are not. A reader is only so good as their review, positive or not. I'll try my best to answer all your questions, and the ones that say "Yay" "Good Job" etc. will really make my day. Flames that tell me I suck, or insult my cat will by met with the utmost fury. And, somehow or rather, I'll sic Chuck Norris on you. My story is about Zulaan, a beloved (though evil) OC. So, on with the disclaimer! I don't own Naruto (Here's a spoiler: MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES!). I don't own any of the Naruto characters, like Naruto, or Kiba, or whoever. I do own Zulaan though, and I own my plot-line. Oh, and, I don't own the Akatsuki (CURSE YOU, KISHIMOTO - one day I shall!). So don't sue. Or Mr. T will pity you. So ha. Anyways, this is a mainly serious story, with it's romantic parts. Not that romantic though. 'Jeez, how romantic can a couple of 12 year old genin get? So, as hard as it is for you to believe this, this is actually a serious story. And the Akatsuki, later on. ^-^ On with the story!**

All my young days were a blur. I trained in the Hidden Sand Village, Rain Village, even the Sound Village. I trained in so many different places, I don't remember. What was I training for, you may ask? You're asking a stupid question. I was training to become a Shinobi. I became one, too. I traveled with Kazecho, a kind, if sometimes cold, merchant. He traveled to every land there was. Many days I spent, simply helping Kazecho to market off and scam people. In the hidden villages, though, I trained to be a Shinobi, a ninja. The most memorable village, both the most painful and joyful, was Konohagakure - the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It is the one time I remember. It is the last time I remember. It was my youth, my death. My name is Zulaan, and in Konohagakure, I was born. In Konohagakure, I died.

As the caravan approached the sprawling city, I thought I would fall right off the side. The driver had had several drinks beforehand, and took no precautions to avoid the rocks and potholes in front of us. Kazecho-san had promised that we would settle down in Konoha for a while. I could finish my Shinobi training, possibly gain a friend or two. Also, I wouldn't have to sit in such close proximity to smelly old men in the caravans any more. I could have a new beginning. I had almost reached the point where I could part ways with Kazecho in the Hidden Sand Village, but seeing this, he had cut short the stay and we had taken off the ninja-less Land of Tea. I had made up my mind: Once I was a shinobi, I would say goodbye to Kazecho, and make my life in the Hidden Leaves Village. The rocking back and forth of the caravan was by no means rhythmic, and my plans were cut short as I was sent sprawling on the ground. A few men laughed, including Kazecho-san, and one particularly smelly one pointed at me. I felt rage well up in me, and was about to unleash a jutsu I had learned in the Hidden Sound Village when someone pulled me up onto my feet. She was a woman with messy dark-colored hair. She sat me down beside her, and I said quietly, "Thank you."

"Not a problem!" the woman smiled, showing off sharp canine teeth. I was momentarily taken aback, but she continued. "I'm Inuzuka Tsume. I live in Konoha. What about you? I don't recognize you."

"I-I'm Zulaan. I don't really have a last name, but Anlo Kazecho takes care of me." I pointed a skinny finger towards him, and continued. "I'm training to be a shinobi. I'm 12." At this Tsume smiled. "I have a boy, he's your age, and training to be a shinobi as well." I smiled politely. Just as I did so, the caravan creaked to a stop, and Kazecho called for me.

"Zulaan! Get my bags!" He added some other phrases, which, for your sake, I won't include. I waved goodbye to Tsume, and started off towards my new home.

Ninja Academy: Day 1. My alarm clock could've been screaming Bloody Murder it was so loud. I fumbled around for my glasses, which had been cracked in my fall. _Darn it… I can't see a thing with these broken things! _I thought angrily, though it was actually a lie. I could see well enough with them. I quickly pulled on a pair of woven tan pants, and a black front-fastening tank top. (AN: Kind of like Tenten's shirt) I smiled at the light yellow edging on the shirt. It had once belonged to my mother, whoever she really was. All I had right now for family was Kazecho-san, and soon I wouldn't even have him. Not that I minded; I was always a loner. I slung a bag over my shoulder, and ran off through Konoha's streets. today, I wouldn't be working with Kazecho.

As I dashed into the classroom, I realized I was several minutes early. There were so many children my age; I hadn't seen many my age since a year earlier, in the Hidden Sand Village. I sat down in an empty corner, where I wouldn't be bothered much, and observed my new classmates.

There was a girl with pink hair, and a girl with blond hair. The two were fighting about something, calling each other "Billboard Brow" and "Inopig." I wondered why to girls would fight so hard over something, and caught the idea when they both shot longing glances at an overly serious looking boy sitting in the front. His black hair covered his face, but from the looks of it he didn't have mutual feelings with any of the girls in the classroom. The girl with pink hair, who I discovered was named Sakura broke off her fight, and wandered over to the depressing kid.

"Sasuke-kun! What are you doing after school t-today?" she asked, and I could see her fingers crossed really hard behind her back.

"Training," he responded, ignoring her and acting superior.

"Sasuke-kun, you are sooo awesome! No wonder you're top of the class!" she pretended she was proud of Sasuke, but through my broken glasses I could see she was disappointed. The boy named Sasuke shrugged off her comment, frowning intensely. I made a few mental notes:

_Sasuke: snobby, annoying, depressing._

_Sakura: weak, fangirl._

Well, I didn't see anyone to call a friend yet, but I could see who wouldn't be one. So many people… and no one noticed me, in my secluded location in the shadows. I stared at the desk. When I am suddenly among so many people, why should I feel so lonely?


	2. New Friend

**Chapter 2, here we are. Just to let you know, this story claims to be an Akatsuki fic, but that doesn't happen until later. At the moment, it's about my OC, and kind of Kiba. And Akamaru. POWER TO THE PUPPIES! And pleeeeease review, or you'll make Akamaru sad. Also, Tribute time! (Because it made me so happy reading another author do this, I've decided to try it myself - if it's copyrighted, my apologies!) THANK YOU SO MUCH to my awesome friend night dae for giving me my first ever review. It makes me so happy.**

There were several minutes until class started. I saw a boy with a spiky ponytail in one corner sleeping, and another boy with bright yellow spiky hair and lines on his face yelling at the first boy.

"Shikamaru! Wake up!" he exclaimed, hopping up and down. Every one in the room had a friend, a home, a life. I was just a stranger who no one had ever seen before in the corner of the room. I don't honestly think many of them noticed me. However, it could be a lot worse. I was used to being a loner. I pulled out a journal, and started writing something down. I liked writing a lot, and it helped me explain myself very well. I turned away from the mob of kids, and started my work.

My heart stopped beating as I felt a hand on my shoulder. First instinct took control before I could stop myself, and I had a kunai at the throat of the person whose hand was no my shoulder in an instant. I looked. He was a boy, with messy brown hair, and red markings on his cheeks. His eyes were wide with shock, and I moved my knife away from his throat, abashed.

"S-sorry…" I mumbled, hardly more than a whisper. I sat down, and turned back to my writing. There goes my first - and probably last - chance of meeting a friend, I thought. It then occurred to me that the boy was still standing there. I turned around again, slowly and careful not to touch my kunai. He smiled weakly, and spoke.

"Hi… I'm Inuzuka Kiba. I don't recognize you, and neither does Akamaru," the boy motioned towards a white and brown puppy perched on his shoulder.

I smiled. The nice woman who I met, this must be her son. "My name is Zulaan." Kiba considers the name, and says, "That's a nice name." For the last three minutes before classes, I spend some time with my new friend. He was nice, though rather gruff in the beginning. I could tell how much he loved his dog, Akamaru. I found it rather hard to actually look him in the eye, because hardly anyone ever talked to me. I looked up past him, and noticed the clock. One minute until classes.

"What's that? It looks like you're bleeding…" Kiba ran a hand over my cheek, and sniffed it. Definitely blood. I think for the moment he was touching me, checking to see if it was blood, my heart stopped beating. No one had ever touched my cheek, or cared remotely about me. Kazecho would just through supplies to me, never really help me. No one ever cared what became of me, before. Not in the slightest if I was bleeding. Akamaru sniffed my blood, and then licked my cheek. I couldn't help but laugh - something I was completely unused to.

Not moments later, Iruka-sensei, the teacher of our class, walked in. He greeted us all, and I don't think he really noticed that I was a new one. For once, I honestly didn't care, though. I had made a friend. A real friend. As Iruka-sensei was writing something on the blackboard, I heard a student, that blond girl from before, say something.

"Looks like Kiba got a girlfriend!" she snickered. Still smiling sweetly, I threw a shuriken, which landed no more than an inch from her hand. She yelped quietly, and I continued sitting innocently in my seat. _Girlfriend indeed._

Class wasn't too hard, though interesting. I quickly learned to adapt my techniques more to the style of Konoha ninjas, instead of more Suna-like techniques. The next several weeks passed in a blur of new information, and a new beginning. I spoke with several other of my classmates, but stayed closest to Kiba. I learned in time that he was one of the "dead-last students" who had extremely low grades. Through effort, and knowledge from others of the villages I had learned in, my grades, scores and skills were near the top of the class. After my little incident with the girl who was named Ino, she treated me with far more respect, and didn't mention that I had befriended Kiba again.

After Ninja Academy one day, I invited Kiba to train with me. I thought we could work on basic Ninjutsu, which both of us had more trouble doing.

"Do you want to go work on Ninjutsu with me?" I asked. I knew he rarely trained, but he could certainly use it, and it's sometimes easier to train in pairs. And it wasn't like I was about to go ask someone like Sasuke to come train with me. He thought about it for a little while, and I thought he was going to say "no" when Akamaru answered for him. The puppy gave one loud "Yip!" and Kiba laughed.

"Sure," he said, and we wandered off to the training fields. When we got there, someone was already there. Three people, to be exact. Only one of them was actually training, though. It was Sasuke, the snobby and over-serious popular kid of the class. He was practicing the same Ninjutsu Kiba and Zulaan were planning on working on. Sakura and Ino were watching him, often saying "He's soooo awesome!"

"Maybe we shouldn't train here then, if he's already there. His fangirls will become vicious if they think we're annoying him," Kiba stated. Akamaru growled at the two useless girls.

"Nah, there's no need. This training field is big enough for all of us. I pushed my still-cracked glasses up the bridge of my nose, and wandered over to a portion of the field that was completely unoccupied. I prepared for the substitution jutsu. It was a more advanced technique, but Iruka-sensei said it was an invaluable thing during battle. I was about to activate the jutsu when the two girls decided we were annoying and walked haughtily over to us. Sakura, the pink-haired one, spoke first, while Ino attempted to intimidate us with her evil glare. It failed miserably, and I just stared blankly at them.

"Sasuke-kun is training here!" Sakura said in a whiny tone.

"Funny, so are we…" I said, my sarcastic side emerging. I have tried to suppress it, as Kazecho-san told me it is rude, but it comes out inevitably when I'm annoyed. Kiba didn't say anything, instead beginning to get rather annoyed. I noticed his fists clench, and Akamaru growled again. Clearly, she didn't appreciate my "humor."

"You're bothering his practice! He's the best student there is, and he was here first!" Ino exclaimed indignantly.

"No, he was over there first. Kiba and I were over **here** first. Maybe you need these glasses more than I do." I chuckled slightly, and turned around. This was too much for Ino, and she attempted to punch me. Ino's attempts to hurt me were too much for Kiba, and before she could get close, he had her arm twisted behind her back. "Go back," he said, more frightening than I had seen him before. Ino and Sakura ran back to their beloved Sasuke-kun. "Really, Kiba, you didn't have to react so strongly!" I said, smiling. He shook his head. "I didn't like that they were trying to hurt you."

Sakura, Ino and Sasuke left us in peace. Kiba, Akamaru and I trained for the remainder of the sunlight, and I mastered the substitution jutsu. Kiba was well on his way, and we were both pleased.

"See you tomorrow, Kiba, Akamaru." I petted the top of Akamaru's and hugged Kiba.


	3. Dinner and Suffixes

**Hi guys! Thank you to Moonlitforrest for the review, it really made my day! I don't really have anything to say, other than keep up the reviews (2 seems like a lot to me… ^.^)! On with Chapter 3!**

I arrived at Ninja Academy 20 minutes early, as usual. I was starting to get into a groove, and I was starting to call Konoha my home. It gave me confidence and joy. I took a glance at today's schedule, and was glad I had pulled my unruly black hair back into a ponytail that day. My glasses were still cracked, and my hair was always a tangled mess, but life was starting to come back into me. Eating cold rice every day on the road with Kazecho-san wasn't much of a way to live, and I had gotten really thin. I finally had a bit of meat on my bones, and a lot more muscle. In fact, my fellow students had learned to stay off of my bad side - not only was I growing to become a skilled Ninja-in-training, I had a mean right hook punch. I smiled on a regular basis, and sometimes I would even laugh. Kazecho-san had noticed this difference, and said that I was changing into a different person.

I wandered into the classroom, and noticed Kiba over in the corner. He was fidgeting with the zipper on his jacket, and Akamaru was pacing over the desk. This was unusual for the gruff and sometimes over-confident Kiba Inuzuka. I jumped a couple desks and arrived at his spot.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Oh! Um… no, I don't think so," Kiba was jolted out of a trance. I saw him take a deep breath, and he said, "Zulaan?"

"Yeah?" I sat down on top of a desk and looked at him with questioning green eyes.

"I was wondering… well… um…"

"Yeah?"

"If you would… well. Um. I was wondering if you would like to…"

"Kiba, if you wanna' say something just say it!" I laughed at my friend. He was almost as fidgety as Hinata.

"Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?" Kiba finally said it, and Akamaru yipped his approval.

"Well, if Akamaru says so, I suppose I can't say 'no'! Not that I would anyways." We spent the rest of the time before class looking over notes. Our written test was today.

The test had been easy. Of course. They always were. After she had handed in the paper speaking of Genjutsus and Chakra, Kiba's invitation ran through her head again. _Dinner with Kiba… I've never had dinner out before really. I've had lunch at Ichiraku's once or twice, but that was about it. I wonder where we'll eat. I wonder if it will be somewhere nice. Probably not. But I wonder if Kiba… no, that's impossible. Could he? No. That's impossible. We're friends, and that's that. That's it. Right?_

"Zulaan!" Iruka-sensei's voice pushed me out of my mindless daydreaming. "Zulaan, the lunch time has started!" I shook my head, and ran out. Lunch passed too quickly, and I gulped down the wasabi and sushi I had.

The rest of the school day passed in a blur of anxiety. Kiba was going to meet me at my house. I stared at the dirty, scoffed up mirror hanging just barely from the wall. I had black pants and a black hoodie. I was a mass of unruly black. Sighing heavily, I wandered into the bathroom, and turned on the faucet in the shower. The water was freezing cold, but if I was going to meet my best friend for dinner, I didn't quite want to look like a slob. I grimaced. It felt like taking a shower in ice cubes.

When I was done, and opened a random drawer in my dresser, and found a simple tunic, and a pair of khaki pants. Nervousness crawled around inside of me as I stared at the aging clock on the wall.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick…_

Finally, I heard a knock at the door, and I rushed over. Kiba was smiling haphazardly with a bouquet of half-dead flowers in his hands that I was almost certain Akamaru had picked. But who was I to judge them? They were flowers and they were a nice gesture.

"Thanks!" I said and gave Kiba a hug. This was unusual for me, as I usually only gave people little hugs. I wasn't really a hugging sort of person, but with Kiba it was an exception… wait. What was I saying? Could I like…? I was in a state of utter confusion in my mind, but I was a talented liar, so I just pretended I was fine. I followed my friend through the streets of Konoha, which were lit up by lanterns. Inside my head, a little war was raging, but you couldn't tell.

"We're here!" Kiba exclaimed and tugged on my hand. I pulled my hands out of my pockets, and looked at the sign. This was a fancy and romantic restaurant. Odd… wait. Whoa. My mental war continued full throttle.

_Kiba and Zulaan sitting in a tree…_

_Shut up._

_You know you like him._

_DO NOT!_

And so on and so on. "Uhh, Zulaan?" Kiba asked. I was jolted out of my war.

"Oh, sorry."

We sat down and ordered soon after. The restaurant overlooked a lake. As the sun set over the other side of Konoha, I noticed fireflies come out. Akamaru chased one or two. We laughed at the puppy, and continued talking and chatting. I realized, suddenly, that this was one of the happiest times I can remember in my life. I had never laughed this much, or been this happy. But as a waiter in a staid tuxedo served our food, I forgot about it and we ate in silence. Kiba paid the check once we were done, and stood up.

"Want to go for a walk?" he asked. I nodded silently, and we walked off through the streets.

We had walked in silence for maybe 15 minutes when Kiba stopped. We were alone on a hill overlooking the training field. Kiba turned to me. There was something about him right at that moment that was nothing like I had seen him before. He wasn't gruff or confident. He was gentle. He took my pale hand in his.

"Zula-chan?" he said. It almost seemed like he wasn't moving, but his face was closer to mine. _Kiba-kun… _the phrase entered my mind, and I did something I had never done before. I felt them well up, but I couldn't stop it. A single tear leaked out of my eye. And another. And another. Before I knew it, I was practically sobbing. "What's wrong?" Kiba asked, his voice laced with worry. I took a deep breath, and let everything out.

"No one has ever used '-chan' on the end of my name, I could never say 'kun' on the end of someone else's name. It was always 'san' and 'sama.' Even in the other villages, nobody wanted to be my friend. I was always the outcast, and the loner. But sometimes loners are loners because they're above everyone else. I -" I sniffed to keep from wailing, "-I was always below everyone else. Because I never had friends… Kiba, I've never had a friend. I've certainly never had someone care about me… before I came here, I never had anything. My world is suddenly changing, it's all different now." I rested my head on Kiba's chest, even though we were about the same height. _That's right. It's all going to be better now._

**Did you like it? This is basically the "intensity" of the romance category in this story. So if you don't like the level, my apologies. And also, be warned that NO, it's NOT ALL GOING TO BE BETTER NOW. In a chapter or a few, it's all going to be BAD! !**


	4. Ring around the Rosie

**Alright, chapter 4! I have a plan, and I'm not afraid to use it. Sadly, it doesn't involve Sasuke getting hit by a truck for no real reason. Ah well. It's still going to be amazing. And over the next 4 chapters, you will see that the names of these chapter go together. Just you wait and see why.**

Kiba and I were even closer than before after that dinner. Kazecho, on the rare occasion that I saw him, claimed that I seemed unnaturally happy. The Inuzuka clan didn't seem to mind my existence either - my influence on him had helped his grades and skills dramatically. Akamaru took to me rather well, also. He would lick my wounds when I fell in training, and yip at me if he deemed I was moving too slowly. All in all, life had improved by a landslide.

Classes were a breeze. I loved learning new jutsus, though. At one point, the Uchiha kid became suspicious of my skills, and we had an odd conversation.

"Hello."

"Hi. You're Uchiha Sasuke, no?"

"Yes."

"M'kay!" I went back to doodling, drawing a chibi-esque picture of Akamaru. There was an awkward silence for a little while, but I completely ignored it, sucked into my drawing.

"Where did you get your Shinobi training previously?" Sasuke suddenly asked. I looked up, surprised. How should he know I had prior training?

"How do you know I had any?"

"If you can rival my skills in this class, clearly you had training from somewhere." _Stuck-up brat._

"Everywhere, really…"

"What?"

"I said it. Everywhere. I'll leave that to your amazing Uchiha mind to figure out," I said sarcastically, finishing my drawing and getting up. Before Sasuke could say another word, I left to show the drawing to Kiba, and chat with him some.

As we left classes that day, I wished each sensei a good weekend (it was Friday). Before I could get out of the campus, though, I was stopped by Sakura. I was shocked that she would even speak to me. I was notorious for competing with Sasuke for more skills and better grades. The pink-haired girl took a deep breath, and said, "We're all going out for ramen tonight, and you're invited. Be at Ichiraku's ramen shop by 7:00 PM." I nodded and left, my mind more on the jutsu we were learning in class than the dinner. When I got home, I went into the cupboard in the living room. The room was sparsely furnished with a couch and a table, and not much else. Behind the couch, which was scooted against the wall, though, there was a tiny door. It lead to just a little cupboard that I could easily fit into. It was pitch black while I was in there, but I didn't mind. The shadows were my friends. While in there, I could think more easily, or just have some peace and quiet. While I was in there, I just thought. About my classmates, about life, about Kiba. _Kiba…_

"ZULA-CHAN!"

"WOOF!" The sound of an impatient boy and his dog could be heard from outside. Zulaan slid out of her hiding place, leaving the shadows alone again. "Hey, Kiba-kun," Zulaan smiled softly, waving. "What do you need?"

"I was just wondering if I could have some help with that jutsu Iruka-sensei taught us…"

"Like h*ll you were, but come on anyways." Zulaan rolled her eyes and laughed. They ran to the training fields, not even slightly out of breath when they got there.

"Woohoo, run Akamaru, run!" Kiba exclaimed, watching the tiny pup soar across the field. The dog ran into someone. The man Akamaru ran into was tall, with an ANBU mask. **(A/N: I have no idea who he is, I just made him up off the top of my head) **The man seemed to glare at Kiba, who called to Akamaru to come back, apologizing to the ANBU. The man stalked over, and towered over Kiba. "You should be more careful with your dog, or it might just end up dead meat." Kiba clenched his fists, and growled, "Don't talk about Akamaru that way."

"Oh yeah! Why not? You'll set a puppy on me? Come on, you're not even a genin. Stupid kid, trying to pick a fight with ANBU!" The man punched Kiba lightly in the stomach, but it sent Kiba flying anyways. The ANBU approached Kiba, preparing to hit him again, when I got in the way. "You will not hurt Kiba." I glared daggers, through my cracked glasses. I didn't even know what I was doing, my body had taken control. "You will not hurt Kiba." I repeated, angry. The ANBU approached, prepared to take me down as easily as he did Kiba, but I was mad. I had been suspended in Suna for injuring the jounin-level sensei, so you can bet I could take down a cocky ANBU. He came in, and I quickly flipped him over using speed and strength, through much Taijutsu practice. "Don't try anything," I growled, turning back to Kiba. I held out a hand to help him up, and he took it gratefully. When we turned around, the ANBU was gone, but we were not afraid. He took my advice, and didn't try anything. "That was pretty much amazing!" Kiba shouted, enthusiastic once again. I smiled slightly, and said, "Come on, let's practice."

The jutsu was challenging at first, but we soon mastered it. It took Kiba slightly longer, but only slightly. I looked at the time on a large clock mounted on a building as we headed back into the city of Konoha. It was 9 o'clock, PM. "Oh dear!" I exclaimed, hurrying through the streets. I arrived at Ichiraku's to see all of my classmates, Kiba excluded, disbanding. Sakura walked over haughtily. "You said you were coming!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry… I was practicing the new jutsu…" I averted my eyes, and looked at the ground. "You're worse than Sasuke! BELIEVE IT!" Naruto popped his head into the conversation loudly. "DON'T INSULT MY SASUKE-KUN!" a horde of girls exclaimed, running to attack Naruto. I took it as a chance to escape, and ran home. I was back in my cupboard, the darkness surrounding me. I stared at the tiny crack of light coming from the bottom of the door. Why had I done that for Kiba, hurt the ANBU? Would I really turn on one of the most respected groups in Konoha, simply for Kiba? All the questions were too much for me, I reached a hand into cobweb-filled shadows in the cupboard. I pulled out a pillow, and laid down in the cupboard, not even bothering to go to my bed. I fell asleep in the comforting darkness, thinking about the universe.

**You like? And how will I know if you don't review? ^.^ I'm sorry if Zulaan seems too powerful, but it's only when it is really necessary. Until chapter 7… Muahahahahaahhaha! Just you wait, just you wait! Alright, it's midnight (dang, how does that keep happening?), enjoy the chapter!**


	5. A Pocket Full of Posies

**Here's beloved chapter 5! Come on, chapter 5 already and only 2 reviews? I know you're all out there! Muahahahahahahaha… now be ready… this is the last happy chapter you get for a while! And just because I feel like it, I'm going to tell you that in the time since the beginning of the story, I have not managed to acquire Naruto or any of the other characters… so yeah. Just Zula-chan and the Plot-chan! (Tee-hee… plot-chan..) But hey, here's my attempt on a fluffy chapter! Enjoy it if it's any good! And please review and tell me how I did, because I'm not very good at this as far as I can tell…**

After I failed to come to several events all the Ninja Academy students were at, it was decided that I was not to be invited to any. I'm not sure what they were trying to accomplish by doing this, but it didn't faze me in the slightest. All that it really accomplished was causing Kiba to skip said events. And to the chagrin of any friends he did have before, we were spending an increasing amount of time together.

"Come on, Kiba! Just skip class with us just this once!" Naruto whined. "Come on, Shika, back me up! It'll be fun!" Kiba was looking skeptically at Naruto, and Shikamaru just shrugged. "I really don't - *yawn* - give a care. Too troublesome." Naruto persisted whining, but Kiba shook his head. "No. Iruka-sensei said there was an important lecture today on Genjutsu. I don't want to miss it!" Naruto rolled his crystal blue eyes unhappily. "Since when were **you **a goody two-shoes?" Kiba sighed and turned away. "Since I met **her.**" He didn't know I was staring at him, and could hear every thing he said. I was almost positive I knew who "**her**" was. Me. I sighed and slunk away from the hallway, back into the classroom. Was I hurting Kiba more than helping? I sulked in the corner, staring out a window at Konoha, my home. I was shocked at myself for thinking that. I hadn't been here all that long, but I could call it home. I had been in Sunagakure for almost a year, and it had never felt like home. Not once. But Konoha… Konoha was entirely different. Kiba was entirely different. She didn't want to hurt Kiba, nor her home. A silent tear trickled down her pale cheek, falling softly into her lap. She rubbed the tear out of her eyes with the bandages she had wrapped around her forearms.

I jumped slightly as I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. I turned and looked up, only to see Kiba. I sighed and leaned my head against him.

"Kiba… do I hurt you?" I asked simply, almost too quietly to be heard. Akamaru whimpered slightly.

"What? No!" Kiba was practically screaming.

"Then why did you sound so mournful when Naruto tried to get you to skip class?"

"I - I d-d-didn't - ! I -!" Kiba sounded defensive and unhappy. He took a deep breath, and shook his head. "No, Zulaan. You don't hurt me. You help me. You make me…" Kiba sat down, and pulled me into his lap. For the first time, her breath was caught in her throat, and her heart beat sped up. For several seconds, she was rigid, but relaxed into his lap. Before they could say or do anything more, Iruka-sensei ran into the room, and exclaimed breathlessly, "Sorry I'm late class! Tomorrow come the Genin exams!" Shouts of joy, terror, and confusion erupted from the class, sometimes shouts of more than one of the aforementioned emotions.

"But! But! IRUKA-SENSEEEEIIIIIII!" Naruto whined from the back of the class. Kiba looked a bit nervous, but I smirked. _I'm going to be a ninja. Sorry, Kazecho, but I'm outta' here. I'm going to make myself a life, a Konoha Shinobi…. I hope Kiba will be there with me, a Shinobi like me… _

"ZULAAN!" Kiba's voice rang in my ears. "'Jeez, Kiba. I'm surprised your voice didn't break my glasses!" Zulaan laughed. "So, what do you want?" Kiba laughed loudly, gaining glances from several classmates. "Like your glasses aren't almost broken anyhow. But I was going to say, Iruka-sensei let classes out early, so we could train. So… you wanna' go… train?" I laughed at him lightly, mocking his idea of 'training,' but I had to admit. That same idea was running through my head… though I tried to push it away.

I followed Kiba silently to the training ground. I decided to ignore the glances Kiba was continually shooting at me, and try to do some real training. "OK, Kiba, show me the Transformation Jutsu." He rolled his eyes lazily, but complied. He turned into a fairly good replica of me. "Uh-huh. Good. Clone Jutsu?" Kiba nodded, and created two copies of himself. "Nice! I thought you said you sucked at that one…"

"Yeah, well, I lied." I chuckled, and said, "or someone's been practicing?" I decided to give Kiba a rest and practice on my own. I started to form the hand signs for the Transformation Jutsu, but Kiba grabbed me by one shoulder and turned me around. "Zula-chan, do you…" Kiba trailed off, and I smiled at him. Embarrassed by our current situation and proximity to each other, I took my glasses off of my face, and began to clean them with the hem of my shirt. It was an old habit I had (**A/N: Her and I both, actually. If you even have part-time glasses - meaning you only wear them for reading or whatever - it's a great way to avoid someone else's eyes. Not that I'm COMPLETELY antisocial like that**), and had never bothered to break it. Besides, it kept them fairly clean. Kiba's lightly tanned hand came over the hand holding my glasses, and took my glasses gently from me. I felt that same feeling of tightness in my throat, in my heart. Kiba had set my glasses on the ground, and before I exactly what was happening, Kiba's and I were kissing. It was a short, sweet kiss. "This time your not going to start crying, I hope?" he mocked me. I just smiled, and said, "No. Not at all." We kissed again. And again, and again, and again. I couldn't believe what was happening really, but Kiba and I were standing in the midst of the training field, arms around each other, lips pressed against the other's lips. The boy who had taught me how to smile, and how to enjoy life, taught me how to kiss. After a while, we pulled away. "So, this is training for the big exam tomorrow?" Kiba raised an eyebrow skeptically, a smirk forever on his face. "Yes, it's extremely important training."

"You know, you're very pretty without your glasses."

"Oh, and I'm ugly with them?"

"N-no! I - I! I didn't mean it l-like that!" Kiba stuttered like he was Hinata around Naruto, and I laughed very hard because of that.

"My Kami, Kiba-kun, it's a joke! And besides, even if you said I was ugly as heck, I wouldn't care. It doesn't matter much to me." Strands of unruly black hair flew across my face in the wind, and I leaned against Kiba.

"Yeah, but you aren't ugly. You're beautiful either way. With or without glasses."

"Thanks, but the problem with the without glasses option is that I can't see a thing to save my life."

"Ah well. You can have your glasses back, then." I thanked him silently as he handed my glasses back, and I looked out.

"Wow… look at that sunset, Kiba." Zulaan leaned into the chest of the sweat-shirted boy, who in turn wrapped an arm around her. Akamaru was sleeping on Zulaan's lap.

"Yeah… you know, no matter how pretty it or you are, the fact that Genin Exams are tomorrow still stands, and it's getting late. You and I should both get some sleep. Sweet dreams, Zula-chan."

"You too, Kiba-kun," I kissed him on the cheek, and woke Akamaru up gently. "Night-night, puppy." I walked, hands in my pockets, back to the sparsely furnished home. She stared at the sunset in the distant, that looked like blazing fire now. "You know, Kiba, I think I could stay here for a long time."

Nobody could hear me, the once depressed but now happy girl, and I didn't care. My life was going in a splendid direction, I could tell. Little did I know that everything was about to come crashing down on me, heavier than I had ever felt before in my life.

**Dun-dun-duuuuunnnnn…. I wonder what will happen next? Actually… I know. BWAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAAH! But I'm sorry, my little Zulaan fans (I hope you're out there, she's gonna' need all the support she can get!), but I'm evil. I really am. All in the name of the plot line, though, right? Right? Anyone? Kankuro? Temari? Gaara of the Funk?- NTAS reference. Sorry. Couldn't resist. Mwahahhahahahahaha…. actually I'm sad to be writing such serious, fluff-less chapters soon, but let's face the music: I'M REALLY REALLY BAD AT FLUFF. So, enough about me, how about you! Have you reviewed a story lately? In particular, THIS story? PLEEEEEEEEASE! ^.^ Don't worry, readers, I'll still appreciate you if you don't, I'll just appreciate you MORE if you do! So… until next time… Cha!**


	6. Ashes, Ashes

**Gosh, so sorry about the ridiculously late update… I had a writing camp, so I was writing original stuff instead of fanfics. Again, sorry, I'm going to try to keep updating, but I get too many ideas for stories and I just **_**have **_**to start them all. ^.^ Maybe you know what I mean… So Chapter 6 is here…. can you take the excitement? And if you survive the exciting, gut-wrenching, not-so-fun-filled chapter, will you **_**review it?**_** Sorry, no. I'm probably making it out to be better than it actually is, but at this exact time in the story, it's going to be dang climactic. So if you feel it's lacking, I NEED TO KNOW. ASAP. So, enjoy!**

I woke up early the next day. I got dressed and ate quickly, staring out at the morning Konoha. During the day, it was busy, loud and exciting. But in those early morning hours, there was a sense of peace and quietness filling it. I stared out at the city. My city. As of that day, I was going to be a Konoha Shinobi, protecting the village and doing what is right for the universe. Kiba and I would. I hopped off of the windowsill, and walked slowly to class. I could feel butterflies rolling about inside my stomach as I approached the school. _Today is the big day!_ I thought excitedly. I ran into the classroom and did something I had never done before, and never would do again. I ran into the classroom, pumped my fist in the air, and shouted, "ARE YOU READY TO BE A GENIN?" I then proceeded, still with a straight face, over to my corner, where I started practicing the Transformation Jutsu. "Oh my Kami… I think she's really gone off the deep end this time!" Ino whispered. I smirked, and continued my work. "Are you alright?" Kiba asked, pacing over to me. I grinned, saying, "Never been better!"

"Wow, Zula-chan, you're insane!" I leaned my head on his shoulder after nodding slightly. "You ready, Kiba-kun?" Kiba cracked his knuckles, and said, "Never been better."

"Haruno Sakura!" Iruka-sensei called out. The pink-haired girl ran off looking like she was about to explode. This was only increased when she ran right into Uchiha Sasuke, the terrible conceited 'prodigy' wearing his shinobi forehead protector. She swooned, her cheeks pinker than her hair. "_Oh, _Sasuke-kun! I knew you would pass! You're _so _brilliant!"

"Hn," the new genin replied, unfazed. Sakura ran away, off to complete her test. I continued trying out various jutsus, not wanting to fail any of them. I then heard a voice beside me. "You should not keep doing that. You will run out of chakra."

"Yes, thank you." I nodded my thanks and sat down. The boy who had given me the advice was Aburame Shino. He wore dark glasses, and the collar on his jacket covered the bottom half of his face. I had rarely spoken with him, only once.

_ I sat on the hill, staring out at the grey sky. A single light yellow butterfly fluttered about in front of me, and I held out a hand. The butterfly landed on my hand._

"_It likes you," a voice said behind me._

"_It seems that way." I turned to see Shino, staring at the butterfly. "Isn't it beautiful?" I asked quietly. Shino nodded once. The butterfly flew off, away from my hand. We both stared after it._

I glanced down at my hand that the butterfly had landed on. "Yes, thank you."

"Aburame Shino!" Iruka-sensei called. "Hey. Good luck," I called after him as he left. "Same," he nodded and left. Haruno Sakura returned as left. "OH YEAH! Take that, INOPIG!" she called loudly before running off, forehead protector in hand.

Shino had passed. So did Ino, Hinata, Shikamaru and Chouji. Only Naruto and I were left, Kiba in the room, taking the test. I watched the clock nervously, listening to it tick. _Did Kiba-kun pass? Did he pass? _I asked myself over and over again. It was a long while before he showed up again. When he did, he was wearing the forehead protector. "YES!" I screamed for the second time that day. I hugged Kiba and said, "I knew it! I KNEW IT!" He smiled, hugging me back. "But who says you will pass? Couldn't stand being _below _your boyfriend, could ya'?" Naruto, who had been in the back of the classroom the whole time exclaimed, "Ha! I knew you two were dating!" I glared at the yellow-headed boy, throwing a kunai that landed several feet from him, and said, "Shut it, Uzumaki." I was still smiling though, grinning actually. Iruka-sensei had been watching this whole exchange, though. "Alright, there are still two people who haven't taken the test yet. Uzumaki Naruto, go." He nodded lazily and left. Kiba, too, had to leave. I sat alone in the room. Time seemed to slow down. Alone, in the room, I wondered. Iruka-sensei had left to grade Naruto and see if he would pass. I was alone in the room. I wanted to practice the clone jutsu, or do _something _to take my mind off of the impending exam, but I had not options. I just waited. And waited, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Iruka-sensei came back in, and read off the list, though it really wasn't necessary, "Anlo Zulaan." _Not for long I won't be Anlo… _I thought smugly. I just had to pass the test, and then I could cast off that name, and just be Zulaan. Maybe some day I'd even be Inuzuka Zulaan, I really didn't know. But what I knew was this: I was not going to be Anlo after this test. Kazecho-san had been important to my growing up, but it wasn't what I needed. I needed freedom, the one thing he didn't allow. And I was going to get it.

I walked into the room, feeling super nervous. Iruka and some guy with silver hair, what was his name, Mizuki? They were both in the room, and I was positive they could hear my heart bursting out of my chest. Did they have any idea how nervous I was? I have no idea. I pushed all the thoughts out of my head, and prepared myself for the clone jutsu. I blanked out for a little while, but when I came to, Iruka was smiling, and holding a Konoha forehead protector. "Very nice! 10 clones? That's great!" I smiled too. I gratefully took the forehead protector, and slowly tied it around my forehead. "Arigato, Iruka-sensei," I said quietly, and then left. "Anlo Zulaan was a good student," I heard Iruka say as I walked out. I turned back to say, "Anlo no more, Iruka-sensei." And then I left. That was the last time I spoke to him as an ally, little did I know.

"KIBA-KUN, I'M A GENIN!" I shouted as I ran out. I hugged him, and in front of all those people, kissed him. Just a quick, happy kiss. I didn't really care who knew, and Kiba wasn't the type to care either. I hugged him, and whispered, "I love you, Kiba." Then I hopped up, and said, "Well, I've got to go free myself from Kazecho. I'll see you tomorrow, ne?"

"Hai, good luck with that!" I walked away from him, from my now-genin friends, for the last time before everything ended.

I packed my bags. My ninja tools, a few changes of clothing, my toothbrush. I also brought a notebook where I had written random drabbles, about how much I loved Kiba, how much I loved school, how much I… random things. There were chibi drawings of Akamaru in there, too. I loved drawing Akamaru, he was so little and adorable. I smiled lightly at them, and placed them too into my olive green bag.

"And just what are you packing for?" Kazecho's deep voice boomed across the room. I threw the bag over my shoulder, and turned to him. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the forehead protector on my head. "What is that _thing?" _he asked. I shook my head, and said, "I've lived this life long enough. Yes, you were very nice, and took care of me, but I'm a Konohagakure Shinobi, now, and I need to go have my own life. I know you've tried to stop it, and have me to work for you. But now is my time to grow up, and do what _I _want to do." I tried to walk past him, but he put a rough hand on my shoulder. "No. You aren't going anywhere. That's what your mother told me would happen before she left." At the mention of my mother I became enraged.

"My mother also told my she loved me, she told you to look after me, and do what was best, right? Right?" Kazecho was silent.

"I was a Konoha shinobi, a long time ago. So don't try to fight me. I was a Chuunin, I'll have you know!"

I was surprised, but I didn't let it show. "I don't care. I don't care if it kills me, I'm getting out of here." I ran past him, but he was there in front of me, in a Taijutsu position. I prepared myself to fight if it came to that. "Stay, Zulaan," he whispered. I said no. I said it sternly, seriously, and sure of myself. I could see he got mad, and soon he started hurling insults about my mother at me. "She's still alive. She's just to careless and lazy to take care of you. Don't end up like her, some stupid and lazy shinobi!"

"My mother was strong, brave and great! Don't say anything about her! Her reasons were sound, that I know. So don't say another word about her, and get out of my way." I know I was terrifying in those moments, glaring daggers at him. Kazecho backed away, and I pushed past him. "You'll regret it!" he called after me as I roamed into the empty streets. I knew I couldn't stay there, maybe I'd stay with Kiba. I knew he wouldn't mind. I wasn't ready to see anyone yet, though.

I didn't know how long I walked for. I didn't encounter anyone out there, it was strangely empty. I saw a pool of light, coming from a street light, with a bench underneath it. I sat down there, staring out at the street. My home, or so I thought. I sensed an unusual chakra nearby, so I looked up. There was a man in ANBU uniform, a panda on his mask. He was walking in a strange, crooked manner. His head was bent to the side, one of his arms twisted strangely. He looked like he should be in pain, but he wasn't showing any signs of it. "Hello…" he said in a rasping voice. It sent shivers down Zulaan's spine. "Um... h-hello?" It came out sounding more like a question.

"You look like a good one, you have enough skills… young… the pain will hurt you most!" The _thing, _if it could even be called human, laughed, and I was terrified. I tried to run, but found myself rooted to the spot. The monster slowly lowered the ANBU mask, to reveal a man with chalky skin and long, untamed grey hair. The strange thing about him, though, was his eyes. They were completely black, not a trace of white or any other color. It was terrifying, as a strange black fog surrounded the both of us. It wrapped itself around my arms, going up my body. It then shot into my eyes, out of the ANBU's. He then had his eyes closed, and slowly fell to the ground. When he hit, he vaporized, and was nothing but a mask.

And that is how my entire life, which I had so carefully put together, came shattering down. That is how, though I still breath, and exist, and technically _live, _I say I died in Konoha. It was the end of everything I thought I knew. So that's how I died, and how I was born a monster.

**Excited? Sad? Disappointed? Well, I hope you liked it, but I NEED reviews. Heck, flame away if you want. I just want to know if it was good enough. I listened to the Cranberries while writing this. Very good stuff, you know. Well, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. I can't make any promises, though.**


	7. We All Fall Down

**Chapter 7! w00t! I never thought a story would ever progress this far that I'VE written. Normally I'm lucky to finish the first chapter, even! But here we are! I remember when Zulaan was an innocent little girl… *sighs nostalgically*…. now she's going to be homicidal and insane…. ahem. YAY! This chapter goes to my amazing reviewers - Mintshadow 22 and Akari-Sakamaru in particular for the newest ones - even if Akari-Sakamaru reviewed chapter 1. To Mintshadow - a) Naruto will be Naruto. b) Just wait and see….muahahahahaahah! To Akari-Sakamaru - I read your story, and it's really good! So, without further ado, chapter 7. When it all falls apart, again. Except more so, and there will be a lot more sadness. If you cry, review, tell me, and I know I did a good job. ^.^ Sorry in advance, because this won't be a funny chapter.**

When I woke up, I couldn't see. At first it was blinding, blinding light, but then it was just blackness. Pure blackness. I tried to open my eyes, but it didn't work. I could feel them open, though I never felt them blink, but I couldn't see. I blindly reached a hand out, and gagged out, "Help - me! I - can't…. see!" I heard a woman, I wasn't sure who, say, "Oh my! She's awake! Get Akiko-san in here right now!" I tried to turn my head, and it was painful, but I just managed to turn, so that I was approximately looking at the girl who spoke. Instead of seeing a girl though, or nothing at all, I saw chakra patterns, weaving intricately through the body of the person. I learned later that it was similar to the Hyuuga Kekkei Genkai, Byakugan, but at the time it was just weird. In other ways, it was unlike the Byakugan, though. Tiny bits of chakra off of the woman walking around spread over the room, giving me a vague view of what it looked like. I tried to sit up, but was too weak. I slumped back down in my bed. I decided to sleep some more, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was sucked into a dark, empty, painful sleep.

_I was floating, in complete darkness. When I looked down, I could see myself, instead of the chakra signature. I looked up, and a strange black-robed figure appeared in front of me. "Who-who are y-you?" I asked timidly._

"_I am the blackness which came to you yesterday." All of a sudden I was very angry. "You did this to me? You blinded me? I will make you pay…" I growled, and swung a punch at him, though it went right through him. "You cannot hurt me, Zula-chan. I am part of you, and I'm never leaving," the man had a deep, lilting voice. As far as Zulaan could tell, though, he - or rather, _it_- was just a mass of black robes. She could see no face or anything. "Nobody calls me that but Kiba. _Nobody,_ alright?"_

"_Alright… Zulaan. But you cannot control me! I will use you, and get the better of you. This is my home, now, and some day I will force this tattered and weak soul you call your own out of here completely." The man disappeared, and I was left alone in the dark world. I pounded against invisible walls for what seemed like hours, until I fell to my knees, crying. "Let me out! Let me out!" I sobbed. "Just please… let me out."_

While I was stuck in that black prison, the shadows that I had spoken with had taken control. When I got out, only a few seconds had passed, but the thing was already in control, and I couldn't get myself back so easily. I had to watch in horror as the monster controlling me opened my eyes. I could see myself, like an onlooker. My glasses were shattered. My eyes, though, had no pupils whatsoever. No irises, or anything to be found in eyes. They were completely black, from one corner of my eye to the other. I gasped, though no one could hear me. The nurse walked up to "me." I could see the corners of the monster's mouth twitch in an evil grin. Suddenly, shadows began to pulse from my body's eyes to the poor nurse. The nurse shouted out a muffled scream, and fell to the ground. "NO!" I screamed, horrified of what I had done. Or, the monster had done. In sheer anger and horror, I managed to take control of myself again. Ignoring the pain and weakness in my body, I forced myself to get to the side of the nurse. I felt for a pulse, fumbling around at first, trying to get the hang of my inability to really see. She was still just barely alive. "Somebody, help me!" I called out, crying. A medic was in there in moments, trying to save the young nurse. After maybe 10 minutes, the medic stood back, and bowed his head. "I couldn't do anything for her. I'm sorry, she's dead." I hung my head in shame. I could steal feel that demon on the edge of my mind. "How did this happen?" the tall man asked. I felt the demon momentarily control my mouth. "I'm not sure!" I forced the demon out, but it still had just enough control from keeping me from saying the truth. The medic moved the corpse out of the room. As soon as she was gone, I whispered bitterly, "You don't know how much I hate you." It responded, in my head, _"Oh yes, I do. They all do, but they get used to me. You'll learn to love me in time!" _I shook my head. I wouldn't. I sat back on the bed, and looked around, even though I couldn't see color, I could see the remains of chakra from the dead nurse. I reached out, and grasped it, somehow. I could hold it in my hand, a real thing. "I promise, I won't forget you," I whispered as I saw the blue chakra melt into my hand. I slowly pulled my broken glasses off of my face, and set them down on the bedside table. I then made a decision. I could help keep the monster at bay, keep it from using it's eyes. I grabbed my _hitai-ite_, my forehead protector. I supposed I could never look at the metal leaf symbol engraved on it. I wrapped it around my eyes, so that it my eyes were no longer visible. I could still see the chakra through it. Even if I couldn't, it was worth it. I could be safer from the demon, and other people could be too. I then heard a familiar voice penetrating my grim reverie.

"Zula-chan? Is that you? Are you okay?" Kiba was beside me in a moment, and Akamaru jumped up and ran to me. I pushed the monster, the _bakemono _that was controlling me to the farthest reaches I could find.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Are you alright, Kiba-kun?" it was barely above a whisper. I tried to hide the pain coursing through me, but of course Kiba would see through it. He set his tanned hand over my pale hand. "What's wrong, Zulaan? Tell me, you can trust me with it. Whatever it is, I promise it will be okay. I _promise."_ I wanted to believe him. I really did, with everything inside me, wanted to believe it would all be alright. But I knew it wouldn't. "Kiba, last night I was possessed by something. I know, you probably won't believe me, but it's true. I'm not sure what it is, but it's horrible. It blinded me, I can only see chakra now. And it tries to control my body, do horrible things with it."

"I'm sure it's not stronger than you -!"

"Kiba. Did you see that dead nurse that they brought out of here?" I could feel him begin to shake. I scared him. Akamaru positioned himself farther from me. I took my hand from under his, its being there probably only scared him more. Contrary to what I expected, though, he grabbed my hand. He took both of them in his own. "But it's not you… is it? Your still down there. You managed to suppress it once, surely it can stay down. Right?"

"I want to believe that. I know that it isn't me, it isn't Kiba. But when it takes over me, who is to know? I know I'm not strong enough. Which is why…" I trailed off, and looked out the window. Which is why I had to leave Konoha. I slowly detached my hands from his, mournfully. I cringed as I stood up, and hobbled to the window. I couldn't see the streets that I had come to know as my home, but I felt wind on my face. It felt nice. Kiba was staring at me, shaking visibly. He was crying. I slowly untied my forehead protector, keeping my eyes closed. I reached around the bedside table, and found a kunai. I slowly held it above the forehead protector. I tried to stifle my tears as I prepared to separate myself from the village. I reached down, prepared to make that strike through the metal…

The breath was knocked out of me, as Kiba had me slammed against a wall. He was crying, not even trying to hide it any more. "You can't go! Y-you can't d-do this! Please!" He hugged me tightly, and cried into my hospital garments. My arms slowly encircled him. We were both crying. "I- I know. I d-don't want to. But what if I hurt y-you? Wh-what if I kill you? Th-that would hurt too much. You're strong, Kiba. The strongest person I've met in my life. You can be whole again, given time. I know it." I swallowed back tears. Kiba reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a jewelry box. "I was going to give this to you today, anyways, so I might as well now." He pulled out a pendant on a chain. The pendant was a tiny Konoha leaf engulfed in fire. Kiba said to me, "There is apparently a 'will of fire' in Konoha. This means that you can always have that, e-even if you're not here, in Konoha…" I nodded, and let him attach the pendant around my neck. To him, it meant a will of fire, hope and strength. To me it meant my entire life burning up. I smiled sadly.

"I knew something so perfect couldn't last…" I kissed Kiba one last time, one last bittersweet moment with the person who brought me up out of the dark before I plunge back down again. I then walked to the bedside table, and picked up my smashed glasses. "Here. You always said I looked better without my glasses. Now I don't need them any more. Why don't you keep them, just so you know that I'm not completely lost out there." Kiba gripped the glasses firmly, like he thought I would vanish into thin air if he let go. The fact of the matter was, though, that either way, I was about to vanish. I held my kunai, and put the stroke through the hitai-ite. Konoha was no longer my home. I no longer had to stain it with that monster's existence. I stood at the window one last time. "Kiba-kun, I know your either planning on trying to come after me to bring me back, or planning on going with me, or something. But you can't go. You're a shinobi now, remember? You have loyalties. So don't go after me. It won't get you anywhere, and it will only hurt us both more. I'm sorry Kiba-kun. I really am. I won't forget you. So just remember this… I love you!" Without another word, I disappeared. Kiba realized that I had taken a bag he had noticed in the corner of the room. He remembered that I was planning to go stay with him, and that was probably the bag. But no matter, I was gone now. I had jumped out the window, and from rooftop to rooftop. I could quickly evade the guards, as the monster helped my skills. I wished it wouldn't, because deep down I wanted to be caught and locked away, so that I could stay there. I just faintly heard on the wind, as I left, "I love you too."

**And there you have it. Zulaan left! :'( Wah. Poor Kiba-kun didn't deserve that. But I'm evil, and as an evil authoress, it is my duty to make bad crap happen. Now, important news! The next chapter will be written in 3rd Person POV, about Kiba after Zulaan leaves. It will be the last chapter set in Konoha, before we move on to Zulaan's travels. Which will be violent, bloody, and thoroughly awesome. I hope. Read & Review please! Do it for the sake of Zulaan x Kiba. Even if that's kind of a lost cause right now. One faithful reader and reviewer said I should make it a happy ending in the end. And maybe I will…. but that's not for a really long time. So there. Be back soon with another chapter!**

**~.**

**Also, P.S. Don't kill me if your mad that I took them apart. I think I would kill me if I was a reader, because I liked their chemistry. But if you (or me) does that, I can't update. So ha.**


	8. The Sun Sets

**Chapter 8, I finally started working on it! I've been working on new stories that I don't even have on yet… but now I'm back. Now remember, this chapter is from KIBA'S POV! OK? KIBA'S POV!**

**I REPEAT! KIBA'S POV!**

**Alright then. Now, I give you a very sad chappie. And no, Mintshadow22, Zula-chan doesn't get any happies for a little while. Just wait, though. Also, tiny bit of swearing in this chappie.**

I watched her leave, and there was nothing I could do. I had wanted her to stay, and for everything to be alright, but she was gone. I wanted to call ANBU, to make her stay, but I didn't. I was too weak with sadness, and I did what she asked of me. I shed no tears, because I was too dumbstruck. I wanted to believe that she would come back, and that it would be okay. That she would come back, wearing her glasses, with vision, and tell me that she loved me, and that it was all a dream. It felt like a dream as I wandered aimlessly through the village. I was numb, lost, confused. When I stopped walking, I looked around, curious of where I was. I was standing in the training field where we had been the day before the genin exams. Did we really think that it could've lasted? Had we realize how doomed it was? No, because then, it wasn't. It wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't. But now it was.

"DAMN YOU!" I screamed, staring up at the sky. I fell to my knees and started sobbing profusely. Zulaan wasn't coming back.

I'm not sure what time it was when I went back to my house. But the sun was starting to set. When I got home, I just walked past my mother and sister, not looking at them. Akamaru's head was bent down, and occasionally he let out a whimper. Kiba walked to his room, tears staining his face, and looked at his bedside table. There was a picture of Zulaan, Kiba and Akamaru there. They looked so happy, peaceful, and so _oblivious _to the doom inching closer to them. He looked up at his wall. Chibi drawings of Akamaru were on the wall, made by Zulaan. There was even a chibi drawing of Kiba up there. She wasn't much of an artist, but she liked doodling now and again. Then there were random notes she had given him, little day to day scribbles. He gently pulled one off of the wall.

_Hey Kiba-kun!_

_Did you see Shikamaru sleeping earlier today? Right when Iruka-sensei asked him a question, too!_

_very bored,_

_Zulaan._

_Oi, Kiba!_

_Do you want to train after class?_

_Zulaan._

And so on, and so on. Then he found his favorite one. It was in his pocket, where he always kept it. He pulled out the crumpled piece of paper and smoothed it out. It read,

_Kiba-kun,_

_Just because you forgot the answer doesn't make you stupid. I think you're way better than any of the others, even that Sasuke kid. Because you're just that awesome._

_Love,_

_Zulaan_

Several tears fell and stained the paper. I placed the shattered glasses on top of that. He walked to the window that looked out at the Hokage faces.

"You be safe out there Zulaan. Just stay safe… stay strong. A-and I'll try to be just that awesome… don't forget me though."

The sun set over Konoha. The sun set over that part of my life, the best part of my life.

**There you go. And extremely short chapter. It's about 600 words. Weird? Yeah. I just wanted a short one to show you how he felt. Sometimes it's better that way. When I return, it's back to Zula-chan.**

**VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ! ~~ I'm going on a trip to Peru soon, and won't be able to update. So there will be 10 days or whatever where there will be no signs of my existence. No worries though, I haven't died or been kidnapped by the mafia! I'll be back before you know it, with the new arc - Possesion. Yes, I'm calling them arcs. These first 8 chapters were the Konoha Arc, the next one will be the Possesion Arc, where Zulaan wanders, and slowly begins to lose herself! See you soon! Please review for this insane author!**

**~Thanks For Reading This Far~ Katarina Wolffe.**

**(no, Possesion Arc won't be in a different story. It'll still be here!)**


	9. You Need Him

**Chapter 9! Back from Peru, my beloved readers! I just saw the new reviews, and got a happy, and decided to write. So yeah.**

**HERE BEGINS "BOOK 2" of BLIND SHADOWS! THE POSSESSION/GOING SERIOUSLY INSANE ARC! I am currently listening to Goodnight by Evanescence, so this might just be depressing. Heh. Maybe. She only just got possessed and left her one true love's heart pretty broken. Not sad at allll…. can you hear the sarcasm? No? Oh well. Onwards!**

**Thank you to my extremely faithful reviewer Mintshadow22! You are awesome, okay? I am also currently listening to Anywhere by Evanescence, and I think it is awesome. I would be extremely honored if they had a songfic! I'm also rather proud that you sound sad…. MUAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAA… ahem. This is a bit of a depressing story… because the artist in me is a sadist, and the writer is emo. :) Thanks Chapter 9! By the by, we're back in Zulaan's POV.**

I was tired. I had been running for three days, no food, sleep or anything. All I could see was black darkness, with vague blue chakra lines running here and there, through the world. Somehow, I'm guessing by the _thing _possessing me, I was able to travel swiftly and precisely. I had conversed with the thing during much of my free time, trying to figure out what it was. It gave no name for itself, so I just took to calling it "It." Apparently, It contained a lot of power, that I just needed to unlock, but I didn't want to unlock it. I wanted to go home, to Konoha. However, I knew I never could, never would. I travelled for the rest of the day pretty calm, until the sun began to set. I fell off of the tree I was jumping from, not really catching myself when I hit the ground, and bruising me a little bit. I just started crying, sobbing like a child. Which, technically, I was, but that's beside the point. I had the vague feeling that this was going to become normal… breaking down and crying. _You know, I can heal all that pain, if you just accept me…_ It said. I shivered. "No, no Kiba wouldn't want that," I whispered. _Face it, _Zula-chan_, You're never going to see him again, and he's going to forget you. He'll probably get together with that Hinata girl or something, forget all about you… _"No he won't! Kiba told me he love me, and you don't leave people you love…. He won't forget me!" _But don't you want him to? Didn't you want him to move on? Isn't wishing for him to care for you about so much a bit self-centered? Kiba is a human. He will move on, they all do. But now that I'm here, you're not just a human. You could be something special. If it makes you happier, _I _can even be Kiba. The same Kiba-kun you loved! _The image in her head of the cloaked man turned into Kiba smiling, looking just like he normally was. _Isn't this better Zula-chan? _It asked in his innocent voice. This really irked me. It could do all It wanted to to drive me insane, but It would _not _bring Kiba into the picture. I screamed out, it could probably be heard for miles. But It got the idea that being Kiba _wasn't _okay.

Hours passed, just sitting there. I started to wonder if the ANBU would find me, but they didn't. As darkness began to fall, I stood up. I didn't want to sleep, or close my blind eyes. "Do you know if there's a town nearby?" I whispered to It. _Oh, so now she comes back, begging for my appreciation, help and _love - "Just tell me d*mn it." _Okay, okay! Approximately three miles north, there's a little town._ I nodded, even though It probably couldn't see me, and ran off into the woods. When I got there, I easily slipped past the guards at the gate, and walked calmly through the streets. They were empty save for a few hopeless drunks still out there, and I was free to wear my hitaie-ate showing that I was a traitor covering my eyes. I walked down the middle of the streets, not really sure what I was looking for. I had basically everything I needed, but it was slightly comforting to be back in a town, almost like being home. Somehow, though, completely different. I would never be home. I would never be home. I _had _no home. I _had _no home.

"Hey, what's a girl like you doing out in the streets?" A drunk man staggered towards me. I stood up from where I had been sitting on a bench, and tried to walk away. He grabbed onto my wrist, but I wrenched it away. The man swung a fist at me, but I jumped out of the way, only just barely dodging it. _I could help you out of this fight easily, he'd be dead in an instant. Quick, painless, easy. Just let me work! _It offered. I shook her head, mumbling, "I don't want to kill. I don't want your help. I just want you _out _of my head. And maybe if I ignore you for long enough, you'll get the idea that there's nothing here for you!" The drunk man looked up, confused. "What was that, sweet cheeks?" I let out a feral growl. "Nothing for your ears." _So be it,_ It said to me, and I could practically feel the smirk on It. My vague sense of seeing was diminishing. I began to panic; I couldn't see a thing. So I just had to try using her hearing. I listened closely, and when the drunkard started to ramble, I tried to lock on to his position. But I wasn't positive, and I was very off-balance. When I smelled the alcohol coming off of him, I punched wildly, trying to find him. One punch landed its mark, but he had already hit me, too. I staggered backwards, coughing. He didn't sound too happy, either.

"You might win this time, missy, but I'll get you back!" I hoped he was going away, but I couldn't tell.

How long had it been? It felt like hours, but I was pretty sure it was only minutes. Finally, It spoke to me. _Now have we learned our lesson, Zulaan?_ I groaned. "Yes. Yes we have. That you're stupid, and through some horrible turn of events, I need you to survive. So can I have that weird bit of sight back now?

_No. You didn't apologize!_

"For what?"

_Being mean._

"Oh come on, this is just being immature!"

_Do you want to see again?_

"Fine. I'm sorry for 'being mean,' now can I have that bit of vision back?"

_Apology Accepted Zula-chan! Let's go!_

I just sweat-dropped, and was slightly thankful to be able to see again.

**OK I'm done. I'm so so so sorry for the long time, but this chapter did NOT come easily. I'm not even sure why.**

**Voice in head: Because you're stupid and lazy and horrible?**

**Me: What now huh?**

**Voice: Because you'd rather be listening to Evanescence and Katzenjammer while reading other people's fanfictions than write?**

**Me: N-no! DON'T LISTEN TO HER! IT'S NOT TRUE!**

…

…**.**

…

***Crickets***

…

**Ok yes it is. But whatever. I still wrote it, right? This Arc/Book/Whatever is probably going to be the shortest and most boring. Mm'kayzers?**


	10. Happy Birthday

**Chapter 10 already huh? And I'm at 16 reviews already? Wows! OK, although some of my favorite stories get 16 reviews per half a chapter, I'm still enjoying it. So, because I'm so easily pleased, just leaving ONE review will leave me full of happies. Thank you Mintshadow22 and Night Dae for continuing to be amazing and reviewing. Night - DON'T GO EMO ON US! DON'T DO IT! And yes, Katzenjammer and Evanescence are amazing. For this chapter though, I'm using Three Days Grace for inspiration! Ha! No, my readers, I wasn't always addicted to Metal and "emo music" that isn't remotely emo. But then one day someone named Mintshadow22 started spamming my inbox with lots of e-mails telling me to listen to them, and then I got addicted to them, so…. yeah. Which brings me to your review.**

**Zulaan: You're right, she's being mean and not letting me have any happies.**

**Me: It's all part of the story! We swears!**

**Zulaan: Hn.**

**Me: OK, Hyuuga. If you be nice, I promise to bring you to school with me?**

**Zulaan: And that's good…. why?**

**Me: Because. You can kill people.**

**Zulaan: Booyeah!**

**Me: ….Yeah. So here's chapter 10. REVIEW!**

"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me. I am a now 13, with a monster in me," I sang to myself in a broke voice. Today was my 13th birthday, and the I had been a missing-nin for exactly 2 weeks. I clung to my pendant that Kiba had given me, holding onto it like it was my only lifeline. I knew that I could no longer make it in the world without It, and so I decided to make the best of it. Every time I tried to fight It, he would take my vision away. The day before my birthday, it had rained, and now I had a cough. Neither it nor I really knew where we were.

_There's a teahouse right there,_ It said. I nodded slightly, and walked inside. I discovered that It could hypnotize people for a short amount of time.

"Excuse me, waiter-san, could I please have some onigiri?" I asked.

"Do you have the money for that?" she asked.

"I don't need it, do I?" I asked. Confused, she made eye contact. Bad mistake for her. It transferred a tiny bit of itself into her, which felt like a stabbing sensation, but I didn't say anything, save for wince slightly.

"...of course…. onigiri coming right up," the hypnotized woman said. I sat down at an empty table. I thought it was empty, at least. That is, until I heard a voice saying, "Do I know you?" it was a young voice, full of mistrust.

"Gomennasai! I didn't realize you were sitting here!" I started to get up, but a hand on my shoulder caused me to sit down again.

"No, it's quite alright. It would be nice to have some company. My sensei isn't close to my age, and I don't think he would mind if I conversed with someone." I smiled slightly, then realized I didn't want to make eye contact with a nice person. I fished the hitaie-ate out of my bag, and tied it around my eyes.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm blind."

"Gomen, I didn't realize. My name's Haku."

"Zulaan. It's nice to meet you. So, are you a shinobi?"

"Yes. Are you?"

"Sort of, not really though."

"Ah. Missing ninja?"

"Um…"

"It's okay if you are. I kind of am too."

"Really? Yes, I am then."

Haku and I talked for a little while. He was very nice, and I managed to ignore all of It's derogatory comments about him looking like a girl. Eventually, his sensei who was named Zabuza, showed up, and I got up to leave.

"You don't have to leave. Zabuza-sensei, this is Zulaan-san. Do you mind if she stays to eat with us?"

"I don't mind, Haku." I stayed with the two. Somehow or rather, they figured out that it was my birthday, and Haku wished me a happy birthday.

"Arigatou."

As I ate my rice balls, I wondered if leaving Konoha really was the end of happiness. Even if I had lost the things _most_ precious to me, that didn't mean I had to stop smiling, right? I told myself that as I said goodbye to the duo, but I really wasn't sure myself.

_Kiba was at a bloody heap, his limbs twisted in directions that they weren't supposed to go in. Akamaru's fur was matted with crimson, and so was Kiba's hair. He was glaring at me. "Zula-chan, you never loved me did you? Leaving meant nothing? Now you can keep grinning, while we're dying?"_

"_No! Kiba, I-I loved you more th-than anything!" I choked out._

"_I'll see you in hell, Zulaan, because that's definitely where you're going."_

I bolted upright on the hard bench I was sleeping on, breathing ragged. I hate nightmares, I really do.

_Sweet dreams, Zula-chan?_

"Hardly."

_You know, maybe you should make power from those night horrors you dream of?_

"How?"

_Do you really want to know?_

"Would it make them go away?"

_If you trust in me, your nightmares will become your friends, and all those things in you which you fear can become your strengths. Otherwise, you'll stay just a homeless person trying to fight themselves off. Face it, I'm a part of you. If you want to cut me off, that works about as well as cutting your own head off. Nothing is gained but a dead person._

I was silent for a while. I really didn't want to believe what It was telling me, but I knew it was true. I stood up, moonlight flickering on my black hair, and started walking. I can't say how long passed before I answered. It could have been a minute, it could have been several hours. However, when I finally answered, I was outside of the village.

"Teach me how to be strong."

**Ok, yes, it was a pretty short chapter. But it was over 1,000 words, and that's all I REALLY require from a chapter. And I DID update! And I have writing inspiration. So I can write more chapters. ESPECIALLY if I get reviews! *hint, hint***


	11. Mission Day

**Well, I wrote and uploaded one in one day, and started this one the same. So I'm not completely useless. I just want to warn the world, that I've listened to every Three Days Grace song I could get my hands on and have listened to them all 5 times today. At least. Well, awesome news: I HAVE INSPIRATION! I know, crazy right? Well, here's my inspiration.**

**PS… a week or two later - my inspiration died. And so, this was finished way way way way way way way way way later!**

_Emotions are unimportant to a shinobi. They only hold you down. I'm sure you understand me, Zulaan._

"Yes, you're right It-sensei. If I keep thinking about Kiba, it'll only weigh me down, and I won't be a skilled kunoichi anymore."

_That's the spirit! Now clone yourself, and have your clone transform into Kiba. And I want you to then kill your clone._ I swear me heart skipped a beat. Even if it wasn't the real Kiba-kun, it was still someone who looked like him. Wait. Kiba-kun's not right. Inuzuka. Yeah. I don't want to kill Inuzuka.

"Bunshin no jutsu!" I said, and there was a copy of myself.

"Henge!" my copy shouted, and I could see that it was an elaborate Henge, It was definitely helping. The chakra system looked like Kiba's, and it smelled like Kiba, and… "Oh kami I can't do this!" I whispered to myself as a pulled out a kunai shakily. I was nauseated as I dove forward and plunged the kunai into my clone. It poofed away, and I fell to my knees. And threw up. That horrible stench that only vomit has greeted my nose, and I got up and ran away 5 yards or so so that I could breath.

_You're getting there. Baby steps Zula-chan, baby steps. It's always hard at first, but you'll get used to it. Take a few deep breathes, then try again._ I tried again, and this time I only gagged a little bit. But that smell of wet dog Kiba has, it was so lifelike…. I couldn't think about it without almost vomiting again. I took a long gulp of water out of a canteen I had stolen. With hardly any money, I wanted to save it for really important things.

I could tell the sun was beginning to set. Perhaps it was because I was that talented to sense the change in temperature, and that I was adapting really well to a tough situation. Or maybe it was just that It said, _The sun's setting, we should find some shelter. Tomorrow I have an important mission for you!_ I lay in a shallow cave, my unseeing eyes facing to the stone roof. I was secretly excited for my first mission. What would It have me do? Would it be easy, like the simple things genin do when they're first promoted? Or would it be something more challenging and exciting?

I felt like someone was kicking my brain… and I was pretty sure that the kicker was It. _Rise and shine, honey!_ It called sarcastically.

"Gah, shut up!" I growled, rubbing my temples as I sat up. I felt around the dirt floor for my hitaie-ate, and tied it over my eyes wearily. _Mission time, Zulaan,_ it reminded. I nodded, the importance of that not yet sinking in. Suddenly, I straightened up, and in an extremely uncharacteristic squeal, said, "Mission time! Sugoi!" I think I heard It chuckle, but I ignored it, standing up so quickly I hit my head on the low cave roof. "Itai…" I groaned, calming down and taking a sip of stale water. **(does stale water exist? I think it does…)** I brushed out my tangled black hair with my fingers, wishing for a brush. I'm positive I must've looked quite a sight in that state.

Wandering towards the nearby town, I finally got tired of waiting.

"OK, tell me. What's the mission?"

_I thought you'd never ask!_

"Well I did. So tell."

_There's a mist ninja in the village._

"Yes?"

_You're going to kill him._

"Why?"

_Killing needs no why. It is an art in itself, and you must be able to perform it quickly, effortlessly, and emotionlessly in order to truly be strong, and to survive. _I paused. As much as I hated to admit it, he really was right.

"Let's go find him then." I could practically feel the smirk coming off of It. And something else was mixed into his smugness. Was it… pride?

The Mist ninja was walking calmly down the street. I doubt he really expected to die. He was whistling a sort of obnoxious tune, strutting down the street like he owned the place. As much as I didn't want to, I put on an innocent little façade, and ran up to the ninja. My hitaie-ate was hidden back in the cave.

"Shinobi-san! Shinobi-san! You have to help me! My house is on fire! Quick! Come help!" I guess I was a good liar - he believed me, and said: "Lead the way little girl!" Oh yeah. He was _so _going down. I had to pretend to run slowly, as he would definitely suspect something if I moved at ninja speed. We arrived at a run-down little abandoned cottage. No flames in sight. He looked at me confusedly, but it was too late for him. I plunged a kunai deep into his chest. "N-nani…?" the dying ninja asked. "Your death will give me strength," I said. I leaned in close, so that I could whisper right into his ear. "Arigatou, _Shinobi-san._" With that, I twisted the kunai, pulled it out, and slit his throat just to be positive. I carefully untied the hitaie-ate from around the ninja's forehead, and looted him for tools. I didn't really want to steal off of a dead man, but he had money, food and tools. He even had a couple smoke bombs.

The walk back to the cave was peaceful and uneventful. I could hear the pleasant chirp of birds. It wasn't bothering me, which felt nice. I plopped down at the edge of the cave, and felt a cool summer-like breeze wash over me. I took a deep intake of breath, but halted. Why was I so happy? In Shinobi Academy, they taught us that when you first kill someone, you will be very sad, and have trouble getting over it. But I'm in a _good _mood. A GOOD mood. I hadn't even been in one since probably before Konoha. At least, not a really good mood, like I was in now. As hard as I tried, I just really wasn't sorry he was dead. "Why?" I wondered aloud. It finally came out.

_I guess you're just a natural at this!_

I smiled a little bit. "You really think so?"

_Hai. You should continue with this sort of training. When you get used to it, then you'll have a meaning, and then you won't feel any guilt or sadness again._

"Sounds nice."

_Together, we can efface the sorrow. But I have one question._

"Shoot," I said.

_Why did you keep the forehead protector?_ I stopped. I didn't really know why. "I guess it just felt like I should. A memento of my first kill?" I chuckled a little bit. I then grabbed the Mist hitaie-ate, and tied it around my arm.

_It looks nice._

"It feels nice too," I smiled.

I didn't know at the time, but guilt wasn't the only thing It was erasing. He was also, piece by piece, erasing my sanity.

**You like it? I FINALLY uploaded it! :) Yays! So yeah. Minty-chan, I gave Zulaan some happies through the strangest way I could find. Hope you like it.**


	12. Deeper Down

**Yo. I am on my school bus when I'm starting to write it. Don't know where I'll be when I finish… a nursing home maybe? :P Yeah, that's as slow as I update. But I'm listening to Evanescence, so it's all good, right? WRONG! Actually, right. Yeah. But I just had to stop the bus from leaving, run inside, and try to find my brother. Because he was finishing a test, so he came late. So now my STUPID, EVIL, HORRIBLE dress uniform is all wet. I hate skirts. And evil button-up shirts. And tight, uncomfortable blazers. Just by really really really really really really really glad the front of my shirt didn't get wet, because it's white. Yeah.**

**But away from my minor freak-out, back to the world of Naruto and Evanescence. Thank you to the review for Chapter 10 from Night Dae, and the Chapter 11 review from Mintshadow22. To Night Dae - Airgatou! *crying tears of joy* You really think my story is meatloaf worthy? :D Gah! No! Don't make Pandy-chan sit on my head meowing constantly! It's enough work dealing with just MY cat…. Who always wants to snuggle right when I think it's time to start on a new chapter. To Mintshadow22 - she IS happyful. She isn't grieving for the loss of her love, she isn't randomly throwing up (except in the beginning…), and she's going to meet the Akatsuki soon! YAY! I just realized today that I have 20 reviews for 11 chapters! This makes me happy! Thank you so much to my ever-faithful reviewers, Minty-chan and Night-chan! :)**

**Also, PS - Together Again by Evanescence makes me think of my story. ^.^ Now, PPS - This chapter may be written slightly differently from the others. Its more just showing the level of Zula-chan's insanity over a year that passed. Not as much description of the world around her, but more looking INSIDE Zula-chan. Because that totally makes sense. Aw, to hell with it all. Just read the chapter already!**

The days quickly wore into weeks, which in return mixed together into months. At one point, I believed those months were turning into a year. A year alone. A year as a monster. A year without Kiba. A year of bloodshed, tears, hurt, and a still bloodier resolution. The more I killed, the more I lost myself to It. The more I lost myself, the more I forgot that I ever loved Kiba. Now he was just a name in my memories, like Konoha. All I ever saw was the black world around me, and blue chakra pulsing through it, forging my path. All I ever heard were the last screams of my victims, who gripped desperately for life. All I ever smelled was the thick salty blood, clotting the fatal wounds in vain, before just pouring out. All I ever touched was the steel grip of my kunai, and the rough parchment of my paper bombs. And I didn't taste a thing, the food I ate just nutrients and sustenance. And yet, it felt so right. It convinced me that that was my calling, just kill after kill. Once or twice I think I killed a civilian. The shinobi I killed that really inspired me, though, I took their hitaie-ate's, and tied them on as though they were my own. Right next to my left shoulder, I still wore the hitaie-ate of the mist ninja I killed. I had others, too. Many others.

Sometimes, I heard a part of me screaming at me to stop. _This isn't you_, she said. She claimed that I was more than that, and that killing wasn't right. But It smothered her calls for sanity, telling me I had to keep killing to get rid of the 'weakness.' So I did. I trained, I killed, I trained some more.

It's chakra was starting to become mine, slowly melding and blending. I'm fairly certain It thought I didn't notice, like he was being sneaky turning us into one. But of course I noticed. I just didn't fight it. I stopped fighting that losing war long ago. If I untied the hitaie-ate still kept over my eyes, I could momentarily possess people, urging them to do something. Nothing big, but I could easily steal stuff. I could kill people easily by making kunai out of the black shadows that were It. They never missed their marks, and were more deadly by far. I had many other skills, too. Unimportant skills, important skills. All just more tools to reach the same ending - death.

I hummed quietly as I walked. I suddenly felt a chakra network ahead, and a shadow kunai materialized in my hand. The shinobi was now quite near me.

"You there!" he called. I looked up, and I'm sure I heard a ghasp when he saw the slash through my hitaie-ate.

"State your name!" he commanded. A sadistic grin slowly made its way to my face, and I started pulling the forehead protector off of my eyes. The shadows and darkness that had taken my sight pulled and pushed, trying to get out as quickly as possible.

"I…" one eye was barely visible, but it was closed. The shinobi pulled out several shuriken.

"Am…" My eyes were slowly opening, and I knew fear was consuming the man. It rolled off of him in waves.

"Your end." My eyes were fully open, and he tried to dodge the sharp tentacles of darkness spurting from me, but before he had jumped even a foot off of the ground, a tentacle violently slit his throat. With one last weak gurgle, the shinobi slumped down. I walked over to him, tying my hitaie-ate back over my eyes. I turned over the corpse, and pulled off the forehead protector, which was tied around his waist. Feeling the symbol on it, I took a sharp intake of breath. It was the Konoha symbol. I tied it around my waist solemnly

Sure, he was just another nameless shinobi I had ruthlessly killed. Just another body they would find in several days, scaring the living daylights out of young genin returning from a mission. Just another pool of blood that got my sandals wet, so that I had to take them off and walk barefoot for a while. Just another stain on a record so clean so recently. But it didn't feel the same. It was from Konoha.

"Little girls shouldn't be hanging around dead bodies," I heard a man's deep voice say. If I hadn't had my hitaie-ate on, I might have accidentally killed him right there and then. And what a horrible fate for such a renowned name that would've been. What a horrible fate to cut the future I was going to have off.

**OOH! My first cliffie! I'm so proud of myself! :) W00T W00T! So, can you guess who it is? If you guess right I'll give you a virtual muffin! ^.^ Also, go check out my new story Cadaver Collection. Despite the gruesome name, it's a Humor/Friendship/Romance story. HidanOC. :D**


	13. Author's Note

** Well, hello. This isn't a chapter, just a big long author's note from me to you, my beloved readers.**

**Last chapter I promised Cadaver Collection, no? Well, it's still nowhere in sight. I haven't even finished writing the first chapter…. **

**I apologize to anyone who went to my profile mistakenly, just to find that. It will someday happen. Along with some other stories. :D**

**But now, an explanation why I won't be getting too many updates in, most likerly. School. You see, in the grade I'm in, teachers like to try to kill you by giving you as much homework as possible. And on top of that, I'm trying to balance a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and piano practices. Let's just put it this way… life is not easy right now.**

**Because evil, evil school is keeping me away from my beloved fic, my updates may become even more sparse and in between. But on the brighter side, I'll keep trying! YOSH!**

**Thanks for reading this, and I hope to have my next chapter up soon!**

**PS… Heh, some Unlucky Chapter 13….. **

**-Katarina Wolffe ^.-**


	14. Potential

**OK, I'm back! My message from chapter 13 still stands. School dishes out the homework, and I also have a life…..**

**Everyone in my head: NOT!**

**Me: Dang, all of the Naruto cast plus all of my OTHER invisible friends ratted me out. No, I don't have a life. I'm just slow and lazy. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay ok now I'll go an actually write the chapter.**

**I'll give thanks to all the reviews I forgot to thank people for at the end of the chapter….**

**And one last note. When I started writing this chapter, I was listening to Lets Dance by David Bowie. Yay for me!**

***Let's dance! Put on your red shoes and dance the blue, let's dance to the sound that plays on the radio! … * :D Later in this chapter, it also gets kind of random…. yeah.**

_Last Time on Blind Shadows…_

"Little girls shouldn't be hanging around dead bodies," I heard a man's deep voice say. If I hadn't had my hitaie-ate on, I might have accidentally killed him right there and then. And what a horrible fate for such a renowned name that would've been. What a horrible fate to cut the future I was going to have off.

_And now, the continuation!_

I looked up, hands shoved in my pockets. I momentarily worried that they were Konoha Shinobi who would see that I was a missing-nin, but quickly shrugged that off.

_Meh, I'll kill them if they get troublesome._

"Is that so?" I asked, a smirk tugging at my lips.

"Oh, so you're a missing-nin! You seem a bit young to be one. How old are you… 10?" Though I really just wanted to kill the guy for saying I could be _10,_ but I refrained from doing so, instead just saying, "I don't talk to strangers." I confidently walked through the man and the other guy he was standing with, brushing past them… though the guy towered over me. He grabbed me by the back of my shirt as I was walking, yanking me back with some serious strength. He spoke right into my ear, saying: "Oh, we're not strangers. We're your _friends._" For a moment I froze, wondering if this was one of my old friend from Konoha… _No, no that's impossible, they couldn't be…._

"Actually, we _are_ strangers. I've never seen her in my life, and if I haven't, chances are neither have you," the other person said in a deep voice, saving me from worry. I let out a breath I hadn't even realized I had been holding. I instantly took more of a liking to the other guy - he didn't bug _little girls._ I suddenly found myself thinking about people who 'bothered little girls.' They were frequently… rapists. Then I found myself thinking about what if the guy was a creepy rapist or something, that would be gross. The first voice, who I disliked more, suddenly piped up, saying, "What's that face supposed to mean?" I realized that I had a rather disgusted expression on my face. I very blankly deadpanned, "I was thinking about if you were rapists or not." Silence. Then the first voice erupted into laughter, the second one chuckling slightly. I too found myself laughing with them. The first one seemed to think that this statement was so funny, he actually leaned on me for support he was laughing so hard. And he was a _lot_ taller than me.

"Gah!" I jumped away to avoid being crushed. The second one chuckled a little more, and then quieted down. "I'm sorry, but you haven't told us your name yet," he said. I shrugged.

"Common courtesy would have it that you introduce yourselves first, before asking my name."

"Ah yes, gomen," he said politely, and then continued, "I suppose it would do no harm to tell you, considering you're a missing nin… my name is Uchiha Itachi, and this is my partner Hoshigaki Kisame."

"Pleased to meet you - wait! Uchiha… Uchiha-Uchiha-Uchiha! Oh yes! That creepy emo Uchiha kid in the Academy! What was his name…. Daisuke? Sasumaru? No, no, no, Sasuke! Are you a relative of his, Itachi-san?" I asked -I had been traveling so much with Kazecho before, I had never even heard of the infamous Uchiha Itachi.

"Why yes, he's my little brother. You still haven't introduced yourself, by the way."

"Right! Gomen! My name's Zulaan, pleasure to meet you Itachi-san, Kisame-san. Are you traveling to Konoha?" The two didn't reply for a second, but who I now knew as Kisame finally said, "In a sense, yes." I sighed. I couldn't be seen this close to my old home.

"Kisame-san, Itachi-san, I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you both now."

"Why?" Itachi asked very calmly.

"Quite clearly, I'm a Konoha Missing Nin. If I was seen this close to Konoha, bad things would happen, and I might meet some… old acquaintances… I don't really need to see." **(A/N: This is totally random, but while writing Zulaan telling 'Tachi and Kisame that she's going to have to kill them, "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" by Mel Tormé was playing on my iTunes. If you go look it up, its kind of crooner-ish Big Band song… these 2 things just fit together so horribly, I thought it was hilarious.) **Kisame snickered. "That won't be so easy. Especially not when you're blindfolded like that."

"Alright then, if you _so insist,_ I'll take off my blindfold. Sayonara, Itachi-san, Kisame-san."

I untied the hitaie-ate with one hand, letting it fall to the ground. I opened my eyes, those black orbs of nothingness. Blue lines of chakra swirling everywhere were my form of vision. I saw the tall shape of Kisame, and the shorter - yet still taller than me by far - shape of Itachi.

_I leave this fight in your hands, but keep the hitaie-ates… I think I'll keep them to remember these two._ It agreed, and I left the fight in Its hands. Menacing shapes formed out of the shadows surrounding me, lashing out at Kisame, who I decided to go for first. He jumped away from them, straight into another monstrous beast made up of shadows. It attempted to hold Kisame down, but he quickly broke free. It gave me enough time to leap forward, though, and reach out an arm. Shadows spiraled around it, before shooting out and latching onto Kisame's hitaie-ate. With one yank, it cam tumbling off, back to my hands.

"These hitaie-ate," I said, gesturing with one sweep of my hand towards all of the forehead protectors I wore, "Are the hitaie-ate of shinobi I killed. Every single one of the ones I wear."

"Even the one that's yours?" Kisame asked skeptically. I smirked.

"In a sense, you could say I killed myself, yes." With that, shadows swirled around me, encasing me. It tried a new technique I had never used before, but I could immediately tell I liked it. The shadows flickered, and in an instant I was behind Kisame. The darkness jabbed at him, pushing him forward.

"Guh!" he grunted, stumbling. I ran past him, towards Itachi.

"Tsukuyomi," I heard the man say. Nothing happened. I grinned. Itachi-san didn't know a thing about how my 'vision' worked, and couldn't manipulate it to do a genjutsu on it. Unfortunately, that worked both ways. Seeing as he had the Sharingan (he _was_ an Uchiha, after all), it actually worked to repel my shadows. I couldn't possess him, kill him, anything via the eyes. I kept running towards him in a zig-zag pattern, shadows forming around me again. I prepared to go behind him with the same technique I used on Kisame, but with his Sharingan he saw it, turning quickly and hitting me in the side of the head. I managed to avoid the blow so it only hit my shoulder, though. I fell to the side, quickly picking myself back up when I heard Kisame growl, "OK, that's it, you runt."

_Big sword coming towards you at 12 o'clock,_ It informed me. I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding it.

"Bugger," I grumbled, checking for the chakra of Itachi. He was nowhere to be seen - em, noticed. That in mind, I jumped forward, just being missed again by one of Itachi's attacks. Kisame brought his sword down again, and this time I just used a Kawarimi jutsu to get behind Itachi.

"Blast!" Kisame growled. I brought a slender little piece of darkness around, and it swiped Itachi's hitaie-ate away. By the surprised little grunt the Uchiha made, I took it that didn't happen so often. He and Kisame both sprung into action, and whatever It did, he couldn't exactly save me. A blow to the side from Kisame's sword-thing had me on the ground in no time. I still smirked a little. I knew they hadn't gone full-force on me, but I still got their hitaie-ates. I heard some muttering going on between the two of them, but was focusing more on the large gash in my side.

_Uhhh, is there anything you can do about this? _I asked It.

_Hmmm…. not really, I haven't thought about medical stuff much before._

_Bother… so what's the plan?_

_We wait until they kill you or you die of blood loss?_

_Sounds _fantastic. I thought sarcastically.

"-What do you think of that idea?" I heard Itachi say.

"Nani? Are you talking to me?" I asked. He sighed.

"Yes. We said that you have a lot of potential, and our organization - the Akatsuki - was thinking about finding a new member. We will allow you to accompany us for the rest of this mission, and bring you to our base. There we will let Leader-sama decide if you may join us. What do you think of that idea?" I thought about it.

"What's in it for me?" I finally asked.

"Several things.

This organization could give you meaning beyond your wanderings - which is what we guess that you do.

Our organization seeks world peace, and you might find this a worthwhile goal.

You won't die of blood loss."

I contemplated those ideas. I had been really wanting some more meaning, and being in the company of humans more might be nice. World peace had always been interesting to me, and maybe if the Akatsuki united everyone, I might go back to Konoha some day. And I _really_ liked number three. Dying didn't sound like that much fun.

"I'm in!" I said, standing up and promptly almost falling over. Kisame supported me.

We walked to Konoha together, and I frequently asked them questions about the organization. For the most part, I just liked to talk to people other than It. He remained largely silent, and that didn't bother me. For once I had someone to talk to.

**Booyeah, baby! So yes, zhe Akatsuki! I love them. And Zula-chan can too now! So…. gomen if they seemed kind of OOC, but whatever. Now, all of the thanks and replies I forgot to give people!**

**HimuraRen: Thankies Shisui-chan, Kira-chan, Sasori-kun and Renizzle for the threats, I could never keep this up without them! Your guess was correct! And…. is this happies enough for ya? :)**

**Night Dae: Thanks for the luck in life, but apparently it didn't help…. life still seems to dislike me. Was it something I said to life or something? ;) I love the Land of the Grates. I need some striped paint…**

**Night Dae and HimuraRen together: You guys updated on the same day, thus guilting me into writing some more…. :)**

**Akari-Sakamaru: Yeah, I pretty much forgot to acknowledge you for the last several chapters…. GOMENNASAI! The reviews bring so much happy joy!**

**for Chapter 7- I'm overjoyed to have another reviewer! :D**

**for Chapter 8- :) Brings me many happies. I enjoy causing pain to characters….. **

**call me a sadist if you want!**

**for Chapter 9- Hey, why not just go to the dinner *in* pajamas? That's what I do! :) Sorry for any inconvenience, you can always blame it on the crazy writer that won't leave you alone. :)**

**for Chapter 10-Zulaan says thanks. Who DOESN'T love Haku? That kid is awesome. I agree, emo's can have their own special happies! (SEE RENNY? OTHER people think that Zulaan can be happy!) Yeah, Katzenjammer. I have weird music tastes…. Katzenjammer are these 4 norwegian girls who play a bunch of instruments… very weird music, but awesome. I also listen to Three Days Grace, which actually does sound sort of Evanescence-y. And Trocadero. A little band no one's ever heard of…. weird music not too many people seem to like. But I'm obsessed!**

**AND YES! YOU LIKE EVANESCENCE! YOU ARE A COOL PERSON! :D**

**Thanks for reading all these if you actually did…. o.O So, while I may not have updated for a while when added to the monstrous Authors Note at the end, its over 2,000! Fear me!**

**Be back soon (I hope), chaps!**


	15. Listening with 3rd Person POV Special!

**Zulaan has returned! Sorry. It's November, which means NaNoWriMo. Which means very few updates. Yeah, Gomen gomen gomen. But I have a life. It's known as homework.**

… **sad face …**

**But anywho! I'm back! That's what counts, right? And Thanksgiving… Mmmmm…. Turkey Day…..**

**Also, I'm just now watching the first episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion! Yay!….. yeah. You probably didn't really NEED to know that, but now you do! So HA! And…. FORSOOTH!**

I heard the quiet thud as the guard fell to the ground, whether dead or asleep I couldn't really tell. I stood slightly behind Kisame, obscured by his height and width. "Kisame-san? Itachi-san? They're going to recognize me…" I comment. I know they would. If Kiba saw me, he would in an instant. Akamaru would likely be out on a mission, and any of the other people - like Hinata, or Naruto - might also.

"So? We're S-Ranked criminals. We could hack through them like they were ramen!" Kisame boasted. I shifted from one foot to the other, about to just shrug and say alright, when Itachi came to my defense.

"Zulaan is right. We came for reconnaissance and to get the Kyuubi no Kitsune. We didn't come to start a war. Zulaan-san, wait out in the trees out there, and we'll return soon." He pat my head lightly, and I nodded, feeling a bit like a little kid. Itachi treated me like some kind of younger sibling, and from what I had heard about the Uchiha Massacre, this was something like how he used to treat Sasuke. I felt quite honored being like a new younger sibling to the infamous elder of the Uchiha brothers. I leapt into the dense forest surrounding Konohagakure no Sato, and crouched down on a tree branch, overlooking Konoha. Had I had my vision, maybe the part of me still loyal to Konoha would've resurfaced, and I would've broken down at the sight of the Hokages, carved on the side of the mountain. Would've jumped into the crowds, and helped them rebuild what used to be my home. I had heard rumors of Sand and Sound attacking Konoha, but hadn't had any confirmation. _I'll have to ask Itachi-san later,_ I thought to myself. Maybe, if I had been able to see Konoha, I would've forgotten Itachi-san then and there and begged the Hokage for forgiveness, and most of all, begged Kiba for forgiveness.

As it was, I couldn't see a thing. All I saw were chakra patterns, and there is nothing beautiful about countless blobs of chakra, and strings of chakra all weaving some semblance of vision for me. I leaned my back against the rough tree trunk, my same black and gold shirt I had worn when I first went to school in Konoha scraping against its bark. The shirt and pants had been the same pair for a long time. I didn't even want to begin to imagine how dirty I must have looked. I didn't really care much, as I had never had the money to spare to find something that was clean. I hadn't really grown much in that length of time, anyways, so it still fit me for the most part. I stopped my reverie on clothing to take several deep breaths of beautiful Konoha air. They had such clean, _green _smelling Konoha air.

Those thoughts were soon stopped too, though. I heard voices approaching, and masked my chakra signature so they wouldn't see me.

_Wise, Zula-chan!_ It said. I almost groaned at the return of It. Even though It had become like a part of me, it was a very annoying part of me. I listened carefully to the voices.

"Hinata-chan, good work back there!" I heard an all too familiar voice say. My breath hitched in my throat, and my eyes widened beneath the cloth. _Kiba…_

"Arigatou, Kiba-kun. You, Akamaru-kun and Shino-kun really saved the mission," the soft voice of the Hyuuga heiress responded. The third voice, Shino, replied, "We would have lost the scroll had you not hit him. I know it is frightening to hit an opponent, but you were very inspiring back there."

"A-arigatou g-go-gozaimasu."

Kiba was silent. Half of me was screaming at him to speak, just so I could hear his voice again. The other half sided with It, deciding it was probably a better thing he didn't. I heard the footsteps of one of the teens stop, and the other two soon after.

"Kiba, are you alright?" The Aburame asked.

"Y…. yeah. I'm fine. I just thought I noticed something. Probably nothing, like a squirrel or something. Let's go home, right Akamaru?" The dog barked, and the footsteps continued, crunching on the ground.

I wanted to cry when they left. Kiba had seemed so happy, and he had called her 'Hinata-chan.' And she had called him 'Kiba-kun.' How dare he be happy again after I left. What happened to his desperate pleas? Were they just empty lies, to make it look like he cared? Anger replaced all of my sorrow and sadness. Anger, just needless rage. I was consumed by stupid hatred that I referred to as It. As I stood in a clearing, not too far off from the trees, my long fingernails drew blood from my fist as I clenched them. That little part of me that just wouldn't go and die was yelling at me to stop being so stupid and irrational, but I didn't listen. I lifted a bloody hand up to my neck, and pulled out the necklace he had given me. I ripped it off violently, dropping it onto the ground and stomping on it.

"Will of Fire be damned," I growled, returning to my position on the tree.

Not too long later, Itachi and Kisame returned. "Are you ready to go?" Itachi asked politely.

"Completely."

~~~~ **THIRD PERSON POV SPECIAL!** ~~~~

That night, Kiba couldn't sleep. He pulled himself up, and crept quietly out of the house, Akamaru still sleeping soundly inside. He wandered around, and briefly walked out of the gates. He didn't know why, but he felt pulled there. He reached a clearing, and smelled the metallic tang of dried blood. He wandered to the center and saw several drops of the crimson liquid, mixing with metal, He picked up the metal, and realized it was a necklace. The fire, the will of fire.

"Zula-chan…" he whispered hoarsely. _I should find her, she must be somewhere, I should look for her!_ he screamed at himself. But he knew he couldn't find her. His instincts told him to give up. And he took after a dog, who always followed his instincts. He walked down the empty Konoha roads back to his home, and curled up on his bed, hand clenched tightly around the necklace. He cried all night, sleeping not a wink.

~~~~**Zulaan POV**~~~~

How was he supposed to know I had been camping not even a mile away?

**I AM BACK! HAHA! Wow, that wasn't meant to be such a sad chapter, it just kind of happened…. not really what I planned, but I'm happy. I wrote it in, like, 20 minutes or something, I dunno. Did you like my 3rd Person POV special? :) Review Replies!**

**evil-tea: Love the pen name, still! Oh gosh, I completely forgot about Zulaan's side wound! Meh… she wasn't moving much, she'll be okay. XD Wow….**

**HimuraRen: They do. Because I say so. Maybe they don't make REN-CHAN happy, but they makes Zulaan happy…. I think…. probably. LOL… well, I updated, right? And it's not even Thanksgiving Break yet!**

**I was listening to some of the sadder songs by "Red" while writing this. They're a really good band. During part of it, I was listening to Pieces, Lost, and Hide. They're some of my favorites (especially the beginning of Lost!) :)**

**HAPPY THANKSGIVING, 'MERICANS! And all of the not-'mericans: Umm… HAVE A NICE LIFE! :D**


	16. Battle

**I'M ALIVE! No, seriously, I'm alive. F'real. Not a zombie!**

**But I'm terribly sorry for taking so long to update…. oh well. At least I did at all, right? Besides, I've been experimenting in OTHER anime-fanfic-writing. :)**

**Mm'kay. Big thankies to HimuraRen, who made Uchiha noises. Silly Ren, Hn-ing is for stoic Uchihas who think they're the bees knees! ….XD?**

**Now, for Evil-Tea, who liked my Third Person POV Special. Maybe I'll include more….. OHMIJASHIN, I should include a second person special! NOT! That would be so freaking horrible, it would hurt…. :)**

**Finally, for Emiko-chan, who pretty much saved me. The review made me really happy, and it came at the perfect time. Just yesterday, I was thinking about this story, and not really wanting to continue writing it. Losing interest. I know, it's horrible to do that to ones story, but I CAME OUT OF IT! Saved by a review! XD**

**See people? That's what reviews do for you. SAVE you. :)**

**OK, now I will save you all from this painfully long A/N, and let you see the story. ...Maybe. On the other hand, I could go on and on about a random dream I had last night…. or not. Yeah, you know what, lets just get to the story.**

"Is your side wound bothering you?" Itachi asked as I cringed. Our walking had gotten to the gash, and possibly reopened it. Teeth gritted, I said, "A bit," before continuing.

"Zulaan, your pendant you were wearing is missing," Itachi commented absently.

_Kami-sama, how observant _is_ this dude? _I thought to myself.

_He _does_ have the Sharingan,_ It pointed out. I mentally shrugged that off. Pretending I was unaware, I reached up for it, and upon not finding it there, said, "Oh. It must've fallen off somewhere. Pity. Say, where are we going?" I asked.

"A little village somewhere, can't remember the name. The Kyuubi wasn't in Konoha. We had a fight while we were there," he commented absently.

"Oh, with whom?" I asked.

"Hatake Kakashi, Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai, and for a bit, Mighto Gai. We could've taken him down, Itachi," Kisame complained. Itachi remained silent as we continued our trek.

"So, do you have any family?" Kisame asked. I gathered that Itachi wasn't much of one for talk.

"Nope," I said.

"Kill 'em off like Uchiha up there?" Kisame asked, gesturing towards the elder Uchiha brother, who had walked several feet in front of us.

"Nope," I repeated. Kisame sighed, defeated, before complaining about being surrounded by people who didn't talk.

"Are there other members in Akatsuki?" I suddenly asked. Kisame nodded.

"Yeah, nine of 'em. Their names are, well, you already know Itachi and I, but there's also Leader-sama, Konan-sama, Sasori, Deidara, Kakuzu, Hidan and Zetsu. There's also this good-for-nothing idiot named Tobi, I don't know why we keep him around, though. Comic relief?" I chuckled at the last bit, and we continued walking in silence.

When we arrived at the town, Itachi cast a genjutsu on a woman walking by to make her distract the Sannin Jiraiya, who was traveling with Naruto. I couldn't actually believe that the man would be fooled by it, and I pointed it out.

"He's a sannin…. what's the likelihood that one woman could woo him into completely forgetting his charge?" Kisame chuckled.

"More than you would expect. The old geezer's legendary for his perverted habits." Zulaan shook her head. "I still don't buy it," she said. "Maybe I should keep an eye on him while you guys fetch Naruto?" she suggested. It took her several seconds to realize how saying 'keep an eye on him' wasn't very accurate, considering her condition.

"Err… keep track of his chakra signature?" she amended her statement.

"That would be wise. Find our chakra signatures and notify us if he makes any move other than with the woman."

I was surprised with how well it worked. The old man was immediately taken in by her good looks, and the way his chakra signature fluctuated, and his words as slick as a slug, I almost puked.

_That man is sad… too sad…_ It said between giggles. I nodded slightly from my position, crouched low on the top of a building. My hair brushed against my face, the black locks tickling my nose ever so slightly. I blew out a breath, knocking it away from my face. Jiraiya's loud, obnoxious giggled reached my ears, and I cringed. He said several things, and they didn't sound right… not at all.

"Come with me, darling, you've been under a trap!" he said.

"No, get away from me you old sicko!" the woman said, her tone of voice quite different. I sensed a flare in Jiraiya's chakra, and my face paled.

_Oh, shit…_ It's voice echoed in my mind, and for once, I was in total agreement with him.

My feet pounded painfully against the rooftop as I dove towards Kisame's gargantuan chakra signature. The thought that my shoes were worn, and becoming rather too small briefly entered my head, but it flew out like the wind whipping around me. As I landed on the ground, and sprinted towards the hallway, I heard noises. Battle noises. People fighting, making speeches, the normal battle activity.

I was too late.

I burst through the door, panting, but the fight had already started.

"Itachi-san, Jiraiya found out -!" I started, but suddenly the old man's chakra signature was in the room. I recognized Naruto's as well, and he seemed beyond flustered. But there was another familiar-seeming one. I remembered it….

I remembered training with Kiba, for the very first time. Sakura and Ino had gotten mad at us, because Sasuke was training there. Uchiha Sasuke.

_What is _he _doing here?_ It asked. Even though It had never met Sasuke, It had looked through my memories, lived them like he had been me. The quick movements, and amount of chakra concentrated in Sasuke's palm - which I learned later was the Chidori - boggled my mind to no end. I reeled with all of the chakra around me, only regaining my focus when I realized that Jiraiya had a dangerous proximity to me. I whipped off my hitaie-ate, letting It's shadows run rampant around me as I dashed towards Kisame and Itachi. With a quick movement I hardly saw, Itachi had broken Sasuke's wrist and flung him into a wall. While Itachi spoke to Sasuke, I cowered in Kisame's gigantic shadow, afraid to be roped into the battle.

_Why are you afraid? What are you afraid of? The little Uchiha kid and the blonde-haired freak?_

_No….. _ I tried to defend myself, but It saw right through me.

_Why are you afraid of _them_?_

_They used to be my friends…_ my weaker, human side emerged, if only briefly, trying to reassert some humanity in me.

I remembered how Naruto had made fun of Kiba and I, saying we were in love. I remember what a dunce he had been, but at the same time, how impossibly _human_ he had been.

"Come on, pipsqueak!" Kisame shouted at me, and I was brought back to reality. I realized that the Sannin had performed some strange toad jutsu, and the walls were turning to toad innards around us. Had I been remotely more girly, I might've shrieked, or been disgusted.

A crazy flare in chakra from Itachi caused the walls to open up around us again, and we jumped out the windows. The sound of Itachi's and Kisame's cloaks billowing nearby let me keep track of where they were as I averted my eyes to retie my hitaie-ate. As we neared the edge of the city, even though I couldn't see anything, I glanced back.

I had found comfort, new friends, in Itachi and Kisame - and the rest of the Akatsuki, too, I hoped. I had found new meaning in following them, even if their ways weren't the most righteous.

But by staying with my new friends, was I betraying my old friends?

**And there you have it. A chapter. :) Finished while drinking hot cocoa! Yuuummmmmm… :)**

**I'm planning on TRYING to update again soon, because it's going to start getting interesting preeetty soon, but yeah.**

**Review if you wanna'!**


	17. Eyes

**I'm alive, believe it! XD**

**I've been drawing a LOT lately…. like, all the time…. and doodling in my planner instead of doing homework. Ah well….. I should totally draw Zula-chan, no? :)**

**Also, I've been picturing the end of this story… if I write it well, I think it should be pretty intense… :)**

**I listened to "Nothing and Everything" by RED while writing this, and I think it helps establish the feeling. I love that song, and I feel like its almost Zulaan's theme song or something… maybe I'll do an AMV for her some day? :)**

"Here we are," Kisame stated as we walked into the Akatsuki base. The temperature dropped around me, and I gathered that we were in a cave. At the sudden chill, I hugged myself, calloused hands brushing against the cold metal of the hitaie-ates on my arms. I followed Itachi through the seemingly unending cave, before he opened a door (which I later learned was concealed, and near impossible to find). As the two walked through the doorway, I shrank behind Kisame. Our footsteps hit the floor, differently for each of us, I picked up, as we walked.

Kisame's were loud, heavy, falling wherever they fell.

Itachi's were soft, silent, carefully thought out.

Mine were uneven - sometimes treading carefully over the cold wood, other times clumsy.

I would say our footsteps fit us quite well.

I almost felt as though I was being escorted to my execution as Itachi and Kisame walked into 'Leader-sama's' office.

"Kisame, Itachi," Leader-sama said, his voice morphed and computerized. None of his chakra was really there, which confused me to no end. His voice made him sound unreal, and he had no chakra… was he that good of a Shinobi?

A shiver ran down my spine at the prospect.

"Leader-sama," Itachi returned, his voice as cold and distant as the Leader's. He didn't sound that way when he spoke to me. There was a tinge of softness in his voice when he spoke to me, he sounded kind and caring, almost - though maybe only I picked up on it, as I was used to a lack of kindness.

With the voice he was using then, he sounded like he would not hesitate to murder me… or at least, Leader-sama.

"Who is the child?" that mechanical voice asked. I had known he would ask it eventually, but I really didn't want to hear him ask it.

_Don't be so afraid, Zula-chan!_ It's ever-disturbing voice echoed around my head cheerfully. I almost sweatdropped at how happy and childish the _thing _truly was.

"I am Zulaan," I answered, only later realizing how that could've been a stupid idea, answering.

"I wasn't talking to you, gaki," the man said. I stared at the ground.

"She is, as she says, Zulaan. She is a girl we found while searching for the Kyuubi. She possesses quite a bit of talent, an interesting skill indeed. With training, she could become a formidable Shinobi."

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Thirteen," I replied.

"You are the same age as the Kyuubi, interesting…" he commented. I nodded.

"What kind of 'talent' is it that you possess?" he asked skeptically. It sounded condescending, like he didn't think I really had any.

"A being whose name is unknown to me has possessed… I suppose you could say… me, in some ways. I still have free will, but I have lost my vision, instead seeing vague chakra outlines. In return, I have been given powers - powers over the 'shadows' inhabiting me."

_Well said, dearest,_ It said.

"Shadows?" he asked. I decided to show him. I untied my Konoha hitaie ate, holding it loosely in my hands as I opened my eyes. My black eyes. No whites, no irises, no pupils. No truths, no lies, no nothing. Just the black emptiness I knew so well. Just the black emptiness that I had created so save Kiba, that had slowly consumed me, rampaging through my veins like a second blood.

Just my life.

I felt the shadows unfurl, clinging to my arms like real things, not just silhouettes. Some of the crazier shadows ricochetted off of the walls, bouncing around like Mexican Jumping Beans. I let It start to take over me a bit, but not completely. His deep voice mixed in with my feminine one, sounding more warped than Leader-sama's mechanical voice.

"_This is the power I gave this girl…"_ he said. _"This is the power she, we, offer you. You could take her higher, I could take you higher. Deal?"_ he asked. I retracted the shadows, and It, back to the depths of my soul, retying my hitaie-ate.

"Itachi, have her stay in your room."

I slipped my hand into Itachi's, walking away without saying goodbye or anything. Once again, to my eyes, the hallways felt like they were swallowing me up. I felt small.

**Pein/Leader-sama's POV**

To be honest, she was a tad frightening. At first, she just looked like some kid. I'll admit her hitaie-ate over her eyes raised from questions from me, as well as her collection mounted on her arms. I'd have to remember to ask her about that later. But then she took off her hitaie-ate…. I shuddered at the memory. Everything about her eyes were inhuman, unreal. I knew we were S-Ranked Criminals. Most of us were inhuman. Itachi killed his family. Hidan caused bloodbaths for fun. Kakuzu killed in order to let himself life. Deidara loved blowing up town-full's of innocent people. But none of us were like that. That empty… none of us were like her eyes.

"Zulaan… what pain did you see?" I asked into the darkness of my room that night, tracing circles on my desk with my finger.

That night her… its… voice, haunted my dreams, and her small frame erupting into shadows would not leave my head.

**Gah. A short chapter, I know… I for one think it was sort of well written, though. Ah well. Quality over Quantity, anyone? Next chapter should be more lighthearted, if all goes according to plan. :)**

**Review Replies!**

**HimuraRen: You and your crazy Uchiha Noises. XD Yes, moral battle. It won't be the last, either! (I love moral battles!)**

**evil-tea: Mmm… pudding. Speaking of which, I restocked today! XD Yes, I know there's another side to **_**your**_** Tobi. XD I'd stick another OC in randomly and give you some fluff, but that would be so stupidly random, it would probably kill my story…. oh well. The Akatsuki becomes Zula-chan's FAMWEE! XD**

**Ciao!**


	18. HIATUS TTTT

**Well hello, everybody.**

**No, this is not an update, just another drawn-out author's note. School just got off for me, so the summer is here.**

**HOWEVER, I've almost completely lost my drive for this story. Its gotten to 17, (or maybe 16 or whatever) but I'm just not that into it anymore.**

**This doesn't mean I want to delete it. I'm extremely proud of meh storreh…. but its just such a depressing story! I would kind of like to try some different stories… besides, I'm awful. I can never finish stories. **

**XD Seriously, I've Hiatus'd/Deleted so many stories before, its ridankulous. Perhaps I'll return to my dear Blind Shadows, but for the moment I need a break and need to try new stuff out.**

**Chances are I'll start posting a different fanfic soon - though maybe not, I've been really into original stories lately…**

**But I just wanna' say that I WUFFLES all my reviewers and silent readers, and anyone else who's just popped by.**

**I WILL RETURN!**

…**.some day.**

**=_="**

**BUT HEY! Want more me? (Haha… That sounded wrong.) I'm on DeviantART and LOVING IT! I've been drawing a lot lately, and quite enjoying it!**

**I'm KatarinaWolffe on DeviantART - no surprise there!**

**Find me there if you so desperately need me! Or just, like, break into my house or whatever works for you.**

**Sorry for the false update, flame all you want!**

**:3**

**~Katarina Wolffe**


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